THE JOURNALS 
 
 OF 
 
 MAJOR-GEN. C G. GORDON, C. B. 
 
 AT KARTOUM.
 
 THE JOURNALS OF MAJOR-GEN. 
 
 C G. GORDON, C. B. 
 
 AT KARTOUM 
 
 PRINTED FROM THE ORIGINAL MSS. 
 INTRODUCTION AND NOTES 
 
 BY 
 
 A. EGMONT HAKE 
 
 AUTHOR OF " THE STORY OF CHINESE GORDON," ETC. 
 
 WITH PORTRAIT, TWO MAPS, AND THIRTY ILLUSTRATIONS AFTER 
 SKETCHES BY GENERAL GORDON 
 
 BOSTON 
 HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY 
 
 NEW YORK: II EAST SEVENTEENTH STREET 
 ISS5
 
 The Riverside Press, Cambridge : 
 Electrotyped and printed by H. 0. Houghton & Co.
 
 I O ^^ '-t o 
 
 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Editor's Preface vii 
 
 Introduction by the Editor ix 
 
 General Gordon's position at Kartoum. By Sir Henry 
 
 W. Gordon, K. C. B lii 
 
 The Mission of Colonel Sir Charles Wilson, R. E. By 
 
 Sir Henry W. Gordon, K. C. B lix 
 
 Description of the Journal. By Sir Henry W. Gordon, 
 
 K. C. B Ixii 
 
 Position of the Steamers, Dec. 14, 1884 Ixv 
 
 Journal, Book I. — Sept. 10 to Sept. 23, 1884 ... 1 
 Journal, Book II. — Sept. 23 to Sept. 30, 1884 ... 75 
 Journal, Book III. — Oct. 1 to Oct. 12, 1884 .... Ill 
 Journal, Book IV. — Oct. 12 to Oct. 20, 1884 .... 169 
 Journal, Book V. — Oct. 20 to Nov. 5, 1884 . . . .197 
 Journal, Book VI. — Nov. 5 to Dec. 14, 1884 . . . .255 
 
 Appendices : — 
 
 Book I. 
 
 APPBXDIX 
 
 A. Letter from Abdel Kader Ibrahim to General 
 
 Gordon, and General Gordon's reply .... 369 
 A^. Letters from Abderrahhman en Najoomi and Ab- 
 dullah en Noor to General Gordon, and his 
 reply 373 
 
 B. Letter from George Calamantino to General Gordon, 
 
 and his reply 376 
 
 D. Letter from the Ulema of Kartoum to the Mahdi . 377 
 
 E. Letter from Faki Mustapha to Cassim el Mousse . 384 
 E^ Upon the Slave Convention 387 
 
 F. Memorandum upon the defeat of Hicks' s army . . 388 
 
 G. Letter from General Gordon to Ibrahim Abdel 
 
 Kader 389 
 
 K. Letter from Abdel Kader to General Gordon . . 390 
 L. Letters from Abderrahhman and Abdullah en Noor 
 
 to General Gordon 392 
 
 M. Letter from General Gordon to Sheikh Abder- 
 rahhman en Najoomi, with his X'eply .... 390
 
 vi TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 APPENDIX PAGE 
 
 N. Letters from Colouel Stewart and M. Herbin to 
 
 General Gordon 399 
 
 Book IV. 
 
 P. Letter from Abou Gugliz to General Gordon . . 402 
 Q. Letters from Fakirs, and from Faki Mustapha, to 
 
 the Commandant of Omdurman 402 
 
 R. Two letters from Slatin Bej^ to General Gordon . 405 
 
 S. Letter from Slatin Bey to the Austrian Consul . . 407 
 
 The Insurrection and the False Prophet, 1881-83 . 408 
 
 Book V. 
 
 Q. Letters from Saleh Ibrahim of Galabat and Greek 
 
 Consul at Adowa to General Gordon and Greek 
 
 Consul at Kartoum 446 
 
 R. Letter from Slatin Bey to General Gordon . , . 451 
 T. Letter from the Mudir of Seuuaar to General 
 
 Gordon 453 
 
 U. Letter from the IMahdi to General Gordon with two 
 
 enclosures, with General Gordon's answer . . . 453 
 A letter from General Gordon to the Mudir of 
 
 Dongola 464 
 
 V. Manifesto of the Mahdi to the inhabitants of 
 
 Kartoum 466 
 
 X. Letter from Major Kitchener to General Gordon, 
 
 enclosing one from Herr Roth, and a telegram . 471 
 
 Book VI. 
 
 Y. H.E. The Khedive's Firman, and notice by General 
 
 Gordon 473 
 
 AB. Letter from Khalifa Abdullah Mahomed to General 
 
 Gordon 475 
 
 CD. Petition of the Ulema at Kartoum to the Khedive . 477 
 
 EF. Organisation of the Soudan under Zubair .... 478
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 The work of editing these Journals at an end, it 
 only remains for me now to thank those who have 
 helped me in its compilation. To Sir Henry Gordon 
 I can only return my heartfelt thanks for this addi- 
 tional kindness he has done me in giving me all aid 
 and advice. But there is one other, one of my oldest 
 and most valued friends, whose assistance in every 
 way I wish most thoroughly to acknowledge : this is 
 Mr. Godfrey Thrupp. When it became obvious that 
 the public demand for the work made its completion 
 in so short a time impossible, as the conscientious 
 achievement of one man, he generously came forward. 
 His knowledge of the East and his deep interest in 
 the subject made him an invaluable colleague. 
 
 A. EGMONT HAKE.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 * Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears ; 
 I come to bury Csesar, not to praise him. 
 The evil that men do lives after them ; 
 The good is oft interred with their bones. 
 
 Good friends, sweet friends, let me not stir you up 
 To such a sudden flood of mutiny. 
 They that have done this deed are honourable ; 
 What private griefs they had, alas ! I know not, 
 That made them do it ; they are wise and honourable, 
 And will, no doubt, with reasons answer you. 
 
 But were I Brutus, 
 And Brutus Antony, there were an Antony 
 Would ruffle up your spirits, and put a tongue 
 In every wound of Csesar, that should move 
 The stones of Rome to rise and mutiny." 
 
 These grand lines force themselves upon me, 
 though maybe their analogy is incomplete. Mark 
 Antony was a casuist, and pleaded the cause of re- 
 venge, while I am only earnest in the cause of justice. 
 Yet I trust in my pleading to enable Englishmen to 
 realise how great and how sad is the loss of Charles 
 Gordon, not only to those who loved him, but to the 
 cause of suffering humanity. Gordon is dead. We 
 cannot bring him back to life. Yet from his death 
 we may learn at least how fit he was to teach us
 
 X INTRODUCTION. 
 
 while he lived, how fit to hold his country's honour 
 in his hand, how fit to judge of what was right and 
 what was wrong. His Journals are his last words to 
 the world as much as they are instruction and in- 
 formation to his Government, and Englishmen who 
 value England's honour may well read them with a 
 heavy heart — with eyes dimmed by tears. I say 
 Gordon is dead, and we cannot bring him back to 
 life, but we can do much he would have done for us 
 had he heen allowed to live. His Journals tell us 
 how we can best repair mischief akeady done (and 
 I understand his words to apply rather to the Eng- 
 lish peojjle than to the Government which represents 
 them), and they tell us what is best for the Soudan. 
 In the interest of this unhappy land he devoted much 
 of his life ; in its interest he died. Let us then com- 
 pare the opposite conditions under which the people 
 existed during Gordon's presence and absence, and 
 in doing this let us mark well what Gordon said dur- 
 ing his life, and what his Journals say for him now 
 that he is dead. 
 
 Gordon used to tell the story of how, when Said 
 Pasha, Viceroy of Egypt before Ismail, went up to 
 the Soudan, so discouraged and horrified was he at 
 the misery of the people, that at Berber he threw his 
 guns into the river, declaring he would be no party 
 to such oppression. In this spirit Gordon went 
 there as Governor of the Equator in 1874, and in 
 this spirit he expressed his views on the duties of 
 foreigners in the service of Oriental states. His 
 ardent and unstudied words are worthy of the deep-
 
 INTRODUCTION. xi 
 
 est study. They breathe the kindliest ■vrisdom, the 
 most prudent philanthropy : and it would be well if 
 those whose lot is thrown in barbarous lands would 
 take them for a constant guide. To accept govern- 
 ment, only if by so doing you benefit the race you 
 rule ; to lead, not drive the people to a higher civili- 
 sation ; to establish only such reforms as ref)resent 
 the spontaneous desire of the mass ; to abandon re- 
 lations with yoiu' native land : to resist other govern- 
 ments, and keep intact the sovereignty of the state 
 whose bread you eat ; to rejjresent the native when 
 ad\*ising Ameer. Sultan, or Khedive, on any question 
 which your own or any foreign government may wish 
 solved : and in this to have for prop and guide that 
 which is universally right throughout the world, that 
 which is best for the people of the state you serve. 
 
 Such were Gordon's sentiments when he first en- 
 tered upon his task; well would it have been for 
 Egypt, England, and the world, had his successors 
 taken them to heart and made them their ideal. In 
 such a case the peace, the happiness he brought to 
 the Soudan might still have been preserved. 
 
 Xever perhaps in the histories of barbarous rule 
 were the ideals of justice and truth more needed 
 than at this date (1874). Seven-eighths of the pop- 
 ulation were slaves ; the country swarmed with slave- 
 hunters and slave-dealers ; and district governors, 
 greedy for pelf, aided and abetted them in their 
 raids. So crushed were the remaining population 
 that they regarded all comers as their foes ; so desti- 
 tute, that they were ready and williag to exchange 
 their own kin for cattle or for srraiu. Their flocks
 
 Xll INTRODUCTION. 
 
 and herds, like their kindred, had been robbed. To 
 sow they were afraid, for governors and slave-hunters 
 never let them reap ; and if perchance they cultivated 
 ground, it was a mere patch hidden in some distant 
 nook out of the enemy's way. The maxims of their 
 rulers, prior to Gordon's advent, had been that if 
 the natives — poor unenlightened blacks — did not 
 act in the most civilised fashion then must they be 
 punished ; and when these rulers for their own acts 
 were brought to book, they cited the native custom 
 of " plunder no offence " in their own excuse. How 
 the governors, in league with dealers and hunters, 
 had acted up to these precepts, was apparent enough 
 in the desolation which reigned around, for amid the 
 jungle of stunted trees and tall grasses not a soul 
 was to be seen — all driven away by the slavers in 
 past years. With the Egyptian Government such 
 was the estimate of this waste, that it did service as 
 a colony for misdemeanants among Arab troops ; 
 and hundreds of these died from the damp and the 
 dulness of the scene. In other parts less than 100 
 men dared not move from one station to another, in 
 fear of the retaliating tribes, and so far were these 
 stations apart that it took six weeks to communicate 
 one with the other. In addition to this certain chief- 
 tains who inhabited the borders of the great lakes 
 were engaged in wars in which the capture of slaves 
 was the main motive. 
 
 Such, in brief, was the state of affairs between 
 Kartoum and the Lakes when Gordon made his 
 journey thither ; yet it afforded in no way the only 
 instance of oppression, anarchy or misrule in these
 
 INTRODUCTION. xiii 
 
 lands. In Kordofan and Darfour the slave-traffic 
 was even more formidable than here. In the latter 
 province a war between the slave-dealers and the 
 Sultan's troops was just concluded, and the two 
 vast lands, with Darfertit, had been made into a 
 Homkumdircat, or Governor-General's district re- 
 sponsible to Cairo, and separated from the Soudan. 
 But Gordon's work was for the present confined to 
 laying" down a chain of posts between Gondokoro 
 and the Lakes, and by this and other means con- 
 tributing to the welfare of the tribes and the con- 
 fusion of the slavers. To gain the confidence of the 
 natives was his first care ; and to this end he ven- 
 tured alone and unarmed into those isolated spots, 
 whither not less than a hundred men had dared to 
 go. Then he showed the people how they might 
 sow their grain without fear, supplying them with 
 enough to live on until their wants were met ; he 
 also taught them the use of money, and gave them 
 task-work. It was infinitely little, he said, among 
 such a mass, but it was at any rate something, and 
 might perhaps enable him to solve the question 
 whether the negroes would work sufficiently to keep 
 themselves if life and property were secured. To 
 give them this protection, he seized all convoys of 
 slaves, and ivory and cattle coming from the south, 
 punished the slave-dealers, or converted them into 
 troops, for they were hard, active fellows, the rem- 
 nant of an ancient race ; and designing and despotic 
 governors he despatched to Cairo or Kartoum. The 
 slaves themselves, until he could deliver them over 
 to their kinsfolk, he kept, the cattle and the ivory
 
 xiv INTRODUCTION. 
 
 lie confiscated, and with the proceeds swelled the 
 Government treasury. 
 
 It would seem the fate of those who devote their 
 lives to the cause of humanity to be foiled instead of 
 aided in their aim. In all his efforts for the good 
 of these blacks Gordon met with every form of in- 
 terference whence he might at least expect support. 
 Ismail Pasha Yacoub, the Governor-General of the 
 Soudan, jealous of the new Governor of the Equator 
 and fearful of exposure from so conscientious a ser- 
 vant of the State, put every obstacle in Gordon's 
 way ; and the Khedive himself was not always mind- 
 ful of the many difficulties to be encountered. But 
 Gordon said, to blame the Khedive for his actions 
 you must blame his people, and blame their Creator ; 
 they act after their kind, and in the fashion they 
 were made. So that he took little heed of all this. 
 He was content to let it be widely known that the 
 motto of his province would henceforth be Hurryat 
 (liberty) ; and this meant that no man should inter- 
 fere with another, that there should be an end to kid- 
 napping and all plunder, an end to despotic Pashas ; 
 and those who objected were told that the motto in- 
 cluded their liberty to quit. Moreover, he was of 
 opinion that those who annexed the province needed 
 as much civilisation as those they attempted to civil- 
 ise ; and, whenever it was necessary in the interests 
 of his people, he never hesitated to show them that 
 this was his view. 
 
 Still, though he succeeded in giving peace and 
 happiness to the people, in reforming the cruelties of 
 Mudirs and Pashas, in settling the disputes of war-
 
 INTRODUCTION. XV 
 
 ring chiefs, and in laying down tlie chain of posts 
 between Gondokoro and the Lakes : in making all 
 these beneficent reforms, his heart was ever bur- 
 dened with the thought of how this new and unac- 
 customed good would affect the people and their 
 lands when, as time went on, himself and his influ- 
 ence were removed, and his successors, who under- 
 stood his high intent as little as they understood the 
 people themselves, ruled in his stead. "I think, 
 what right have I to coax the natives to be quiet for 
 them to fall into the hands of rapacious Pashas ? I 
 think sometimes that through my influence I am se- 
 ducing the natives into a position where they will be 
 a prey to my Arab successor. They would never 
 do for an Arab what they do for me. I make 
 friends with the tribes right and left." 
 
 But, apart from these feelings, he was not satis- 
 fied ; his success in his own province had been com- 
 plete, but, instead of meeting with co-operation from 
 the adjoining Soudan, he had encountered nothing 
 but interference from its then Governor - General, 
 Ismail Pasha Yacoub, to whose interests it was to 
 let slavery go on. For this reason, therefore, Gor- 
 don, after three years' labour, resigned his post as 
 Governor of the Equator. But the step was taken 
 in a wavering spirit ; and these are among his last 
 words ere he left ; " By retiring I do not aid any- 
 thing; by staying I keep my province safe from in- 
 justice and cruelty in some degree. Why should I 
 fear? Is man stronger than God? Things have 
 come to such a pass in these Mussulman countries 
 that a crisis must come about soon."
 
 XVI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 These significant words, so terribly confirmed less 
 than ten years later, were uttered in September of 
 1876. 
 
 Gordon's resignation soon led to his reinstatement 
 on terms more fitted to his views. In the new po- 
 sition he felt strongly that, great as was the trust 
 and the almost superhuman work expected of him, 
 if he did not entirely succeed at least he would not 
 be hamijered. He was not only appointed Gov- 
 ernor-General of the Soudan in Ismail Pasha Ya- 
 coub's stead ; he was given authority such as none 
 had previously enjoyed — complete power, civil and 
 military, with the life or death of his subjects in his 
 hand ; and no man dare enter his dominions without 
 special leave. He had stipulated that this supreme 
 command should be independent of Cairo, for he 
 knew the Egyptian authorities to be in favour of 
 the slave trade. The imdefined territory now his 
 had hitherto been subject to several governments — 
 Arab, Egyptian, Turkish. Henceforth Soudan was 
 to mean the vast territory limited on the north by 
 Upper Egypt, on the south by the Lakes, on the 
 east by Abyssinia and the Red Sea, and on the west 
 extending beyond Kordofan and the newly acquired 
 sultanate of Darfour — the whole roughly estimated 
 at more than 1600 miles in length, and 700 miles in 
 width. There were to be three Vakeels or Sub- 
 Governors : one for the original Soudan, another 
 for Darfour, and a third for the Ked Sea, or East- 
 ern Soudan. 
 
 The suppression of slavery, in which he had been 
 so far successful in his own province, and the im-
 
 INTRODUCTION. xvii 
 
 provement of commimications, which he had long 
 declared to be the one means by which that traffic 
 could be effectually checked, were the two objects to 
 which Gordon was to specially direct his aim. 
 
 Remembering his recent experiences, he was fully 
 prepared for the condition of his new subjects. In 
 his predecessor, Ismail Pasha Yacoub, he had al- 
 ready recognised the quintessence of Egyptian cu- 
 pidity and Turkish misrule — the main cause of the 
 people's ruin. The experiences of the first months 
 of his administration only served to confirm his 
 worst fears ; whithersoever he looked he saw an 
 enlarged picture of native misery and destitution, of 
 alien cruelty and oppression he had before witnessed. 
 He saw that the Circassian Pashas, the Bashi-Ba- 
 zouks, the Arab soldiery, the slave-hunters, were by 
 their acts fast goading the people to revolt ; that 
 tribes which without their interference would have 
 been at peace were now at war ; that towns which 
 under proper rule would have flourished were starv- 
 ing or besieged ; and that the land, otherwise fertile, 
 was a waste. On every hand he found caravans of 
 packed slaves hungering and parching in the sun, 
 far from their homes and far from their goal, unless 
 that goal were death ; deserts strewn with innumer- 
 able bones ; armed bands of slave-hunters, dogged 
 by the vulture-like dealers, waiting and watching 
 for further prey ; and over all these reigned the 
 miscreant spirit of Zubair, the slave-king, now os- 
 tensibly a prisoner at Cairo for past deeds, but act- 
 ually aiding and abetting this cruel war against 
 man through his son Suleiman, the chief of his de-
 
 xviii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 serted band. To remove Zubair's influence was as 
 impossible of achievement as to cut off the demand 
 for slaves at Cairo, Constantinople, or Stamboul ; 
 but to break up Suleiman and his band lay within 
 Gordon's grasp, and, as one of the main causes of 
 trouble, he made it his foremost aim. How he did 
 this by the simple power of his presence, and how 
 Suleiman and his six thousand, after signal submis- 
 sion, again broke out into open revolt so soon as 
 Gordon's presence was required elsewhere, affords 
 one of the most striking examples of the personal 
 influence he had acquired. Alone and himself un- 
 armed he had temporarily succeeded in disarming 
 these rebels ; but, this failing in permanent use, he 
 effectually quelled them in battle ; then, to show his 
 jDcople, his Government, and the world how great 
 a wrong this slavery was, he ordered the summary 
 execution of the ringleaders. " With the death of 
 Zubair's son," he said, " there Is an end of the slave- 
 trade." Never had the Government such a chance 
 of preventing its renewal. He had disbanded the 
 Bashi - Bazouks, he had dismissed the peculating 
 Mudirs and Pashas ; and when he left the country, 
 after a three years' reign, the people blessed him, 
 and begged him to return. 
 
 Had he been allowed to act according to the letter 
 and the spirit of the Firman he received, it is most 
 probable that he would never this second time have 
 resigned ; but the overthrow of Ismail at Cairo and 
 the dissolution of the Dual Control had with other 
 changes brought new law-makers for the Soudan. 
 Ismail, though in many respects an imprudent ruler,
 
 INTRODUCTION. xix 
 
 had at least the merit of believing in his English 
 Governor-General, and of supporting him whenever 
 it lay in his power. Gordon's lonely ride into the 
 slavers' camp at Shaka had fired the ex-Khedive's 
 imagination, and it was observed that, whenever the 
 Court Pashas attempted to criticise Gordon's meth- 
 ods of ride, the Khedive referred them to this deed. 
 Moreover, he openly acknowledged him as his supe- 
 rior, and fought Ms battles as those of one who was 
 above the murmur of men. Gordon has, indeed, 
 himself recorded how the Khedive sent him a con- 
 gratulatory letter on the suppression of Suleiman, 
 adding that during the time of his rule the ex-Khe- 
 dive supported him through thick and thin against 
 his own Pashas and his own people ; and certain it 
 is that to the files of petitions sent to him against 
 Gordon he woidd never listen. But when Towfik 
 was set up it was a different affair. Never was he 
 heard to mention Zubair's name. As for the slave- 
 trade, it was equally ignored. Nay, worse than this, 
 the Cairo Pashas, powerless in Ismail's time, had 
 now full sway, and it being in their interests that 
 the slave-trade should revive, the choice of Gordon's 
 successor was settled among themselves. It fell to 
 R^ouf Pasha, a man whom Sir Samuel Baker had 
 already exposed as a murderer, and whom Gordon 
 had in 1877 turned out of Harrat for acts of oppres- 
 sion. The apj)oiutment, therefore, meant nothing 
 more nor less than a declaration in favour of the 
 slavers ; and it was because Gordon feared this re- 
 sult that he had said six months before, viz., in 
 April, 1879, that " If the liberation of slaves takes
 
 XX INTRODUCTION. 
 
 place in 1884, and if the present system of govern- 
 ment goes on., there cannot fail to he a revolt of 
 the ichole comifry.^^ And again he says in 1878, 
 " There is no doubt that if the Government of 
 France and England pay more attention to the Sou- 
 dan and see that justice is done, the disruption of 
 the Soudan from Cairo is only a matter of time. 
 This disruption, moreover, will not end the troubles 
 for the Soudanese, though their allies in Lower 
 Egypt will cai'ry on their efforts in Cairo itself." ^ 
 
 How prophetic these words have since proved to 
 be it is needless to say. In April, 1880, just a year 
 later, Gordon wrote, as he left for India : — 
 
 I have learned with equal pain and indignation that the 
 Khedive and liis subordinate officers have permitted the 
 resuscitation of the slave-trade in Darfour and the other 
 provinces of central and equatorial Africa, and that fresh 
 parties of slave-hunters are forming at Obeyed in Kordo- 
 fan, and that every order which I gave concerning the 
 suppression of this abomination has been cancelled. 
 
 The two missionaries — Wilson and Felkin — who have 
 lately come down from Uganda, passed through these dis- 
 tricts, and they teU me that the slave-hunters are all ready 
 to start once more upon their detestable trade, and that 
 there is a very strong feeling abroad that all the Euro- 
 peans, including of com'se Gessi and the other officers 
 who acted under me, are about to be turned out of the 
 country. This report, even if it be untrue, will largely 
 serve to lower the authority of the European officers, and 
 to render their work more difficult. 
 
 Tliis news is very disheartening, especially when one 
 realises the immense misery which wiU ensue to the re- 
 mains of these poor tribes of helpless negroes. 
 
 1 Hill's 'Colonel Gordon in Central Africa,' p. -373.
 
 INTRODUCTION. xxi 
 
 The events which followed on these first examples 
 of a wholesale perversion of Gordon's methods have 
 proved over and over again the value of his warning 
 words ; it is worthy of special remark that among 
 the causes of the great rebellion which ensued, as 
 interpreted by the English Government in their his- 
 tory and the insurrection of the False Prophet,^ not 
 the religious fanaticism of the native tribes has a 
 foremost place, but the venality and oppression of 
 by Egyptian officials, the unjust manner of collect- 
 ing the taxes, and, above alL the suppression of 
 the slave-trade^ which Gordon had repeatedly said 
 must lead to future troubles, unless accompanied 
 hy a proper system of government. 
 
 Thus the condition into which the Soudan drifted 
 during Gordon's absence was due to deliberate neg- 
 lect of the precautions he had urged. Had the 
 Egyptian Government watched and warded off the 
 regeneration of the slavers after Gordon dealt his 
 final blow in Suleiman's death ; had they set their 
 face against the oppression and cupidity of their 
 own officials, the Soudan might still have been at 
 peace, as Gordon left it in 1879. But the new 
 rulers were in favour of slavery, in favour of op- 
 pression, in favour of backsheesh ; and " a revolt of 
 tbe whole country was their reward." 
 
 It is needless to do more than briefly recall the 
 events preceding those related by Gordon himself in 
 these Journals. Every one remembers his going, 
 and the triumph of his journey and reception in the 
 Soudan ; the wide welcome which his first Procla- 
 
 1 See Appendix.
 
 xxii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 mation received, and the fortunes of the peace pol- 
 icy he at first endeavoured to pursue. Every one 
 remembers how, before he had been in Kartoum 
 a week, he issued a further Proclamation, warning 
 the rebellious against forcing him to severe meas- 
 ures. The Sheikhs and people were anxious to be 
 loyal ; without Government protection they would . 
 be obliged, in self-defence, to join the Mahdi. This 
 Colonel Stewart had discovered in his journey up 
 the White Nile. For this reason Zubair was asked 
 for, the only man of enough prestige to hold the 
 country together. A Pasha among the Shaggyeh 
 irregulars, — a tribe wavering between loyalty and 
 revolt, and blockaded at Half y eh, outside the city, 
 — to him were open sources of information closed 
 to the English Governor-General. Zubair would 
 prove stronger than the Mahdi, and the Mahdi 
 must be " smashed up ; " otherwise, not only would 
 peace and the evacuation of Kartoum be impossible, 
 but Egypt itseK would be in danger. This state of 
 affairs and the measures necessary for a new de- 
 parture being alike unacceptable to Her Majesty's 
 Government, Gordon thereupon used, as he had 
 every right to do, the resources to his hand. 
 
 His predictions as to what would result if Zubair 
 were not sent up were soon realised. The rebels 
 gradually gathered round the city, besieged its out- 
 lying suburbs, and cut the communications. His 
 suffering subjects, unable to hold out, were either 
 killed or, escaping, went over to the enemy. In 
 some cases he managed to drive the rebels from the 
 trenches of Kartoum, and even to relieve the be-
 
 INTRODUCTION. xxiii 
 
 leagiired villages, and return loaded with ammuni- 
 tion and stores ; in others, his army of defence, 
 composed largely of Egyptians and Bashi-Bazouks, 
 encountered miserable defeat. These expeditions 
 were made in small steamers, armoured with boiler 
 plates and carrying mountain guns, with wooden 
 mantlets of his own contriving. On one occasion 
 the rebels so harassed the city that Gordon resolved 
 on a sortie ; but no sooner had the rebels retired to 
 a place of safety than five of his own commanders 
 charged back on their men and aided the rebels, 
 who suddenly leaped from their hiding place, driv- 
 ing the affrighted army back to Kartoum. In this 
 treacherous and cowardly affair the loss on both 
 sides was great ; but the disgrace was the besiegers', 
 and of it they showed their sense by crying out for 
 justice on the traitors. Two of them were tried 
 and, found guilty, were shot by the men they had 
 outraged. Henceforth the city was exposed to the 
 attacks of the Mahdi's troops ; the streets, the Mis- 
 sion House, the Palace, were hourly shelled ; citi- 
 zens died as they passed from end to end ; but the 
 Governor-General, always exposed as in old days, 
 though daily inspecting the lines or pacing the Pal- 
 ace roof, escaped unhurt. 
 
 Meantime the strength of the rebellion grew with 
 every day ; the Mahdi, still at El Obeyed, had de- 
 spatched his emissaries in all directions ; around 
 Suakin, Berber, Shendy, Kassala, the rebels rapidly 
 recruited their ranks. The would-be loyal fell from 
 sheer collapse ; they were unable to help themselves. 
 All chance of relief was gone, and the rebel leaders
 
 XXIV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 re-eclioed in jeering tones the Governor-General's 
 reiterated words, " The English are coming." Then 
 Berber, the main link between Kartoum and Cairo, 
 cried out for help, but like those at Tokar and those 
 at Sinkat, it cried out in vain. To do as he pleased 
 was the answer sent to its hitherto loyal Governor ; 
 and, to save his people and himself, he joined the 
 Mahdi's hordes. In his triumph, the False Prophet 
 despatched two dervishes to Kartoiim, to ask if 
 Gordon would himself become a follower of the 
 Imam, the Expected One ; but they were told that 
 no terms could be made while Kartoum held its 
 ground. 
 
 All hope of a peace, all hope of aid from his own 
 Government or country, being at an end, Gordon 
 forthwith began to provision the town, and to take 
 such steps as would ensure a safe means of defence 
 and attack. Money was scarce, so a paper cur- 
 rency was established, and three of the wealthier 
 citizens were called upon to advance sums on the 
 Governor-General's security. Their arrears were 
 paid, the poor were succoured, and rations issued. 
 All possible precautions were taken for the safety of 
 the people. Mines were contrived, torpedoes laid, 
 and broken glass and wire entanglements arranged, 
 and watchers posted everywhere. The blacks quar- 
 tered in the poorer district of the town were made 
 to serve, and all men ordered to bear arms; the 
 staple food of officei's was biscuit, and dhoora was 
 given the men. Having made all his arrangements 
 on land, he now turned his attention to the Nile; 
 and, as in the campaign against the Taipings, so in
 
 INTRODUCTION. xxv 
 
 this desperate struggle with the Arabs, he organ- 
 ized out of the wretched materials at hand, a fleet 
 -such as the rebels could not withstand. Thus he 
 avenged defeat, drew in stores and guns, and held 
 the enemy at bay. So that for eleven long months, 
 spite of mutiny, cowardice, and treachery within, 
 and the constant attacks from the enemy without, 
 he held his own ; and to spare, out of the little 
 navy he had built, a steamer for the conveyance 
 of his comrades, Stewart, Power, Herbin, and the 
 Greeks. Moreover, when at last the news of the 
 English Expedition arrived, he was further able to 
 send down three other boats to Metemma for their 
 use. It is at this point, when vainly watching day 
 and night for English help, that the Journals begin. 
 How his time was jDassed till we should come, how 
 he viewed our chances of success, and how he pro- 
 posed to act if we at last did arrive, this is a story 
 which the Journals tell themselves. 
 
 I have endeavoured to show the conditions vmder 
 which the people of the Soudan existed during Gor- 
 don's absence and during his presence. The con- 
 trast is sufficient to enable the world to believe that 
 if any man were capable of restoring order to the 
 country, that man was Gordon. But when he left 
 England for the Soudan as the Envoy of Her Maj- 
 esty's Government, he had no authority to act^ for 
 his mission was only to advise. He was to report to 
 Her Majesty's Government on the military situation 
 in the Soudan, and on the measures which it might 
 be deemed advisable to take for the security of the
 
 xxvi INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Egyptian garrisons still holding positions in that 
 country, and for the safety of the European popula- 
 tion in Kartoum ; and, further, upon the manner in 
 which the safety and good administration of the 
 Egyptian Government of the ports on the sea coast 
 could best be secured. So far, then, all action lay 
 in the hands of the Government to which Gordon 
 was to make his report : the administrators were to 
 be Her Majesty's Ministers and their representative 
 at Cairo, while Gordon was to be their informant, 
 and perhaps subsequently their agent, to carry out 
 such measures as they might think fit to adopt. 
 With this arrangement in view, all who knew Gor- 
 don's character and antecedents felt that the only 
 chance for the Soudan lay in Her Majesty's Govern- 
 ment first accepting such suggestions as he might 
 append to his report, and, second, in their giving 
 him carte hlanche to carry out those suggestions in 
 his own way. Little heed was paid to the clause 
 which said, " You will consider yourself authorised 
 and instructed to perform such other duties as the 
 Egyptian Government may desire to entrust to you," 
 for its possible value seemed upset by the concluding 
 sentence, " and as may be communicated to you by 
 Sir E. Baring." Yet this clause, strangely enough, 
 enabled Gordon to hold a position over which even 
 Her Majesty's Government could have no control, 
 unless they openly declared the annexation of Egypt 
 and the Soudan. The Egyptian Government, that 
 is the Khedive and his ministers, elected again to ap- 
 point Gordon Governor-General of the Soudan ; Gor- 
 don elected to accept that appointment ; and Her
 
 INTRODUCTION. xxvii 
 
 Majesty's Government elected to sanction the accept- 
 ance, in an official communication forwarded to him 
 through their representative, Sir E. Baring. From 
 this moment Gordon's position was* entirely altered. 
 Her Majesty's Government and the Egyptian Gov- 
 ernment agreed that his mission was no longer to be 
 one of mere reporting. He was to " evacuate the 
 Soudan, and the Egyptian Government had the 
 fullest confidence in his judgment and knoidedge of 
 the country, and of his comprehension of the gen- 
 eral line of policy to he pursued ; and no effort loas 
 to he loanting on the part of the Cairo authorities, 
 whether English or Egyptian, to afford him all the 
 co-operatio7i and siqjport in their powerT 
 
 When it became an established fact that General 
 Gordon, Governor-General of the Soudan, had been 
 sent up to evacuate the garrisons of the country, it 
 also became an established fact that the method of 
 conducting that evacuation had passed out of the 
 hands of Her Majesty's Government ; and one may 
 also say it had virtually passed out of the hands of 
 the Egyptian Government while Gordon held the 
 Firman of the Khedive. Therefore, as this Firman 
 was never cancelled from the day of Gordon's de- 
 parture from Cairo to the day of his death at Kar- 
 toum, and as it said, amongst other things, " We do 
 hereby appoint you Governor-General of the Soudan, 
 and we trust that you will carry out our good inten- 
 tions for the establishment of justice and order, and 
 that you will assure the. peace and prosperity of the 
 people of Soudan by maintaining the security of the 
 roads open, &c.," it is as unfair as it is illogical to
 
 xxvni INTRODUCTION. 
 
 talk about " General Gordon having exceeded the 
 instructions conveyed to him by Her Majesty s Gov- 
 ernment ^ These instructions were neither more 
 nor less than those conveyed to him by the Khedive 
 of Egypt, who actually delegated his own power to 
 his Governor-General. To exceed his instructions 
 was an impossibility ; to fulfil or to disappoint all 
 the hopes expressed in them was a possibility de- 
 pendent solely on the good or bad faith of the Gov- 
 ernments who employed him. 
 
 The fact that Gordon held his commission in Her 
 Majestj^'s service and the Governor-Generalship of 
 the Soudan at the same time, in no way compro- 
 mised him with Her Majesty's Government in regard 
 to their wishes as to how this or that should be done, 
 or as to how this or that should be left undone : yet 
 he tried earnestly to identify himself with their 
 wishes as far as in doing so he could keep faith with 
 the people he was endeavouring to assist, and with 
 whom he began to compromise himself. That he 
 was justified in so doing there should be no shadow 
 of doubt even in the minds of Mr. Gladstone's minis- 
 try. The wishes of the Kliedive were accepted by 
 Gordon as the wishes of Her Majesty's Government, 
 and he had begun to act, i. e., to compromise him- 
 self with the Soudanese and the beleaguered garri- 
 sons before he reached Kartoum. 
 
 These are the Khedive's wishes as expressed in a 
 letter to Gordon, dated January 26th, 1884 : — 
 
 Excellency, 
 
 You are aware that the object of your arrival here and
 
 INTRODUCTION. xxix 
 
 of your mission to the Soudan is to carry into execution 
 the evacuation of those territories, and to withdraw oiu* 
 troops, civU officials, and such of the inhabitants, together 
 with their belongings, as may wish to leave for Egypt. 
 We trust that your Excellency will adopt the most effec- 
 tive measures for the accomijhshment of your mission in 
 this respect, and that, after completing the evacuation, 
 you will take the necessary steps for establishing an or- 
 ganised Government in the different provinces of the 
 Soudan, for the maintenance of order, and the cessation 
 of all disasters and incitement to revolt. 
 
 We have full confidence in your tried abilities and tact, 
 and are convinced that you will accomplish your mission 
 according to om- desire. 
 
 The Khedive could hardly have written this letter 
 had he imagined Lord Granville would telegraph 
 three months later to Gordon, saying that " under- 
 taking military expeditions was beyond the scope of 
 the commission he held, and at variance with the 
 pacific policy which was the purpose of his mission 
 to the Soudan." 
 
 Effective measures for the accomplishment of Gen- 
 eral Gordon's mission included the possibility and 
 great probability of serious fighting in the interest 
 of a pacific policy, and it is strange if Lord Gran- 
 ville were unable to grasp that fact when he en- 
 dorsed the Khedive's Firman. 
 
 So far I have advanced only a few of the innu- 
 merable proofs of Gordon's authority to act as he 
 thought fit ; as to his capabilities and his judgment 
 it is unnecessary to speak. Of those who subse- 
 quently would not accept his judgment, one, Mr.
 
 XXX INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Gladstone, said, " It was our duty, whatever we 
 might feel, to beware of interfering with Gordon's 
 plans, and before we adopted any scheme that should 
 bear that aspect (i. e. the aspect of interference), to 
 ask whether in his judgment there would or would 
 not be such an interference." The other. Sir 
 Charles Dillie, said, " He is better able to form a 
 judgment than anybody. He will have, I make no 
 doubt, every support he can need in the prosecution 
 of his mission." 
 
 Personally I do not believe that a single Cabinet 
 Minister doubted Gordon's authority to act as he 
 thought fit, nor do I believe a single Cabinet Minis- 
 ter doubted either his capabilities or his judgment. 
 It was only when the Government realised how 
 strong that authority was ; how significantly Gor- 
 don proposed to wield it, and how he meant to call 
 upon his country to support him in what was right, 
 irrespective of party feeling and of prejudiced pub- 
 lic opinion, that references were made to " General 
 Gordon 8 'pecid'iar vietvs " and to " his disobedience 
 of orders. I would let the latter remark pass as 
 unworthy of further comment, were it not for the 
 fact that it has become a common phrase among the 
 working classes in the North of England, when they 
 are either speaking of or are spoken to about Gen- 
 eral Gordon. Now I sincerely trust and believe that 
 the Journals will be read eagerly by the working 
 classes ; they cannot occupy their leisure time better 
 than in reading them, and, indeed, in learning much 
 of them by heart. I would say then, to these people. 
 Do not believe that General Gordon was dlsobe-
 
 INTRODUCTION. xxxi 
 
 client to his Government. His Government per- 
 mitted him to accept the Khedive's Firman appoint- 
 ing him Governor-General of the Soudan, with full 
 powers, civil and military, and the Khedive desired 
 him to " evacuate the garrisons of the country, and 
 to restore order ; " and the way in which this was to 
 be done was left to the discretion of the man who 
 had to do it. I would also ask these people to note 
 particularly that the Khedive did not tell him to 
 evacuate the garrisons of Kartoum and leave the 
 other garrisons in the lurch ; did not tell him to 
 sacrifice everything rather tlian engage in military 
 operations against the Mahdi ; did not tell him to 
 identify his interests with those of the people and 
 then to get away as best he could, and to leave the 
 people to their fate. Had the Khedive told him to 
 do this, he would never have accepted the Governor- 
 Generalship of the Soudan ; and, when his own Gov- 
 ernment suggested this method as a way out of diffi- 
 culties, the substance of his numerous replies was, 
 " Our relative positions do not justify you in giving 
 me such orders. I can only accept them as your 
 wishes ; and the duty I owe to myself, as a God- 
 fearing and an honourable man, prevents me being- 
 able to comply with them." 
 
 When Gordon telegraphed to Sir E. Baring, " You 
 must see that you could not recall me nor could I 
 possibly obey until the Cairo employes get out from 
 all the places. I have named men to different places, 
 thus involving them with the Mahdi ; how could I 
 look the world in the face if I abandoned them and 
 fled ? As a gentleman could you advise this course ? "
 
 xxxil INTRODUCTION. 
 
 He really telegraphed a bitter rebuke to tbe English 
 Government ; and when he added, " It may have 
 been a mistake to send me up, but, having been 
 done, I have no option but to see evacuation through," 
 he merely pointed out what the Government already 
 knew, namely, that the position they had allowed 
 him to accept was one over which they had no legal 
 control, unless they announced the annexation of 
 Egypt. I therefore again most emphatically repeat, 
 that Gordon in no instance disobeyed his Govern- 
 ment, though he frequently had to tell them how 
 utterly unable he was to execute their wishes. The 
 Governor-General of the Soudan had definite orders 
 from the Khedive, whose servant he was, and these 
 orders could not be capsized by the English Govern- 
 ment, unless the Khedive were deposed or Egypt 
 were annexed. 
 
 I cannot conclude this portion of my subject in a 
 better way than by quoting what the Khedive said 
 to Baron Malortie, after he had appointed Gordon 
 Governor-General of the Soudan. Speaking of his 
 mission, he remarked : — 
 
 " I could not give a better proof of my intention than 
 by accepting Gordon as Governor-General with full powers 
 to take whatever steps he may judge best for obtaining 
 the end my Government and Her Majesty's Government 
 have in view. I could not do more than delegate to Gor- 
 don my own power and make him irresponsible arbiter of 
 the situation. Whatever he does will be well done, what- 
 ever arrangements he will make are accej^ted in advance, 
 whatever combination he may decide upon will be binding 
 for us ; and in thus placing unlimited trust in the Pasha's
 
 INTRODUCTION. xxxiii 
 
 judgment I have only made one condition : that he should 
 provide for the safety of the Europeans and the Egy2^tian 
 civilian element. He is now the supreme master, and my 
 best wishes accompany liim on a mission of such gravity 
 and importance, for my heart aches at the thought of the 
 thousands of loyal adherents whom a false step may dootn 
 to destruction. I have no doubt that Gordon Pasha will 
 do his best to sacrifice as few as possible ; and, should he 
 succeed, with God's help, in accomplisliing the evacuation 
 of Kartoum and the chief ports in the Eastern Soudan, he 
 will be entitled to the everlasting gratitude of my people, 
 who at present tremble that help may come too late. To 
 tell you that he will succeed is more than I or any mortal 
 could prognosticate, for there are tremendous odds against 
 him. But let us hope for the best, and, as far as I and 
 my Government are concerned, he shall find the most 
 loyal and energetic support." ® 
 
 The points I have already dwelt upon are all- 
 important for the correct interpretation of what 
 Gordon says in his Journals. There are now two 
 other questions, with which I must deal. The first 
 of these is, " To what extent was H. M. Govern- 
 ment morally bound to support Gordon ? " The an- 
 swer is to be found in the conditions laid down in 
 the Khedive's Firman, which H. M. Government 
 endorsed. Mr. Gladstone admitted as much in the 
 House of Commons on Feb. 14th, when he said : 
 " The direct actions and direct functions in which 
 General Gordon is immediately connected with this 
 Government are, I think, pretty much absorbed in 
 the greater duties of the large mission he has under- 
 taken under the immediate authority of the Egyptian 
 3 From Pall Mall Gazette extra, " Too Late," No. 14.
 
 xxxiv INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Government, with the full moral and political re- 
 sponsihility of the Sritish Governmenty There- 
 fore we owed the same kind of responsibility to 
 Gordon as it owed to Egypt, moral and political. 
 Gordon shows in his Journals what brought about 
 our responsibility to Egypt. First, we were mor- 
 ally to blame for General Hicks's defeat, for had we 
 prevented the Fellaheen conscripts being dragged 
 in chains from their homes, and sent up to recruit 
 Hicks's army. Hicks would not have left Kartoum 
 and his feroops would not have been annihilated. 
 Through this disaster we became morally responsible 
 for the extended influence of the Mahdi, who, pre- 
 vious to crushing a huge army, had merely defeated 
 small detachments of troops far inferior to his own. 
 It was the crushing of Hicks's force which led the 
 Mahdi to put forth his agents in all parts of the 
 Soudan, and thus to convert a trumpery local rising 
 into a wide- spreading rebellion. So much for our 
 responsibility from a moral point of view. Our 
 political responsibilit}^ began with the order to aban- 
 don the Soudan (which was unnecessary interference 
 on our part, inasmuch as the Soudan was practically 
 lost), and was followed up by our objection to the 
 despatch of Egyptian or Turkish troops, our sending 
 Gordon, and our operations for the relief of Tokar 
 and Sinkat. Right through we forced the hand of 
 the Khedive. Why did we not go one step further 
 and force him to cancel the Firman by which he 
 appointed Gordon Governor-General of the Soudan ? 
 Had we done this Gordon would have reverted to 
 his original position as reporter to Her Majesty's
 
 INTRODUCTION. xxxv 
 
 Government, or he could have endeavoured to leave 
 Kartoum at once, as his responsibilities towards the 
 people of the Soudan would have ceased. Until we 
 did this we were as responsible to him, morally and 
 politically, as we were to the Egyptian Government. 
 A little decision here might have spared to us Gor- 
 don, Colonel Stewart, and Mr. Power ; might have 
 prevented the loss of thousands of other lives ; might 
 have saved us millions of money. 
 
 I am only endeavouring to place Gordon's situa- 
 tion and action in a fair light, and I cannot do this 
 without pointing out how greatly England has been 
 to blame in not accepting a responsibility for which 
 she made herself liable. This brings me directly to 
 the second question, which deals with the reason 
 why Gordon, with the promised support of Egypt 
 and England, failed not only to restore order to the 
 Soudan, but even to extricate the beleaguered gar- 
 risons. Volumes have been already written on this 
 subject, and there are probably volumes yet to come, 
 particularly those representing the Journal of Gor- 
 don and Colonel Stewart which was captured by a 
 treacherous enemy, and is now supposed to be in the 
 hands of Mahomet Achmet, the Mahdi. I will con- 
 tent myself then with an endeavour to supply what 
 I feel is the substance of the answer to be found, 
 in this missing Journal, to the question I have 
 raised. Gordon was constantly thwarted and never 
 supj)orted is the summary of a whole which I will 
 give as briefly as I can in detail. 
 
 (1) Gordon wished to visit the Mahdi if he
 
 xxxvi INTRODUCTION. 
 
 thought fit, but Sir E. Baring gave him a positive 
 order from Her Majesty's Government that he was 
 on no account to do so. Of course, as I have al- 
 ready shown, Gordon, in his position as Governor- 
 General, need not have accepted this as an order, 
 but he was, as he always has been, most anxious to 
 conform to the wishes or desires expressed by Her 
 Majesty's Government, when those wishes affected 
 only a point of judgment, and not a point of duty or 
 a point of honour. 
 
 (2) Gordon j^roposed to go direct from Kartoum 
 to the Bahr Gazelle and Equatorial Provinces, but 
 Her Majesty's Government refused to sanction his 
 proceeding beyond Kartoum. 
 
 (3) Gordon desired 3000 Turkish troops, in Brit- 
 ish j)ay, to be sent to Suakin, but Her Majesty's 
 Government, advised by Sir E. Baring, who dis- 
 approved of the measure, declined to send these 
 troops. 
 
 (4) Gordon, being convinced that some govern- 
 ment was essential for the safety of the Soudan, 
 suggested the appointment of Zubair as his successor, 
 and gave the most cogent reasons why it was ab- 
 solutely necessary for the accomplishment of his 
 mission that the appointment should be made. He 
 reiterated his request over and over again, from 
 February to December. Her Majesty's Govern- 
 ment would not permit the Khedive to make this 
 appointment. 
 
 (5) Gordon requested that in the interests of 
 England, Egypt, and the Soudan, he should be 
 provided with a Firman which recognised a moral
 
 INTRODUCTION. xxxvii 
 
 control and suzerainty over the Soudan. This was 
 peremptorily refused. 
 
 (6) Gordon asked for Indian Moslem troops to 
 be sent to Wady Haifa. They were refused him. 
 
 (7) In March Gordon desired 100 British troops 
 to be sent to Assouan or to Wady Haifa. In making 
 known this desire to Her Majesty's Government, Sir 
 E. Baring said he would not risk sending so small 
 a body, and the principal medical officer said the 
 climate would exercise an injurious effect on the 
 troops. These troops were not sent. 
 
 (8) Gordon, for the sake of everything and every- 
 body concerned, showed that the Mahdi's power 
 must be smashed. Her Majesty's Government de- 
 clined to assist in, or even to countenance, the 
 process. 
 
 (9) Gordon, in a series of eleven telegrams, ex- 
 plained his difficulties, and said that if Her Majes- 
 ty's Government would not send British troops to 
 Wady Haifa, an adjvitant to inspect Dongola, and 
 then open up the Berber-Suakin route by Indian 
 Moslem troops, they would probably have to decide 
 between Zubair or the Mahdi, and he concluded 
 these telegrams by saying he would do his best to 
 carry out his instructions, hut felt convinced he ivould 
 he caught in Kartoum. Sir Evelyn Baring, in his 
 reply to these telegrams, recommended Gordon to 
 reconsider- the ivhole question carefully, and then to 
 state in one telegram lohat he recommended ! 
 
 (10) Gordon telegraphed: "J'Ae comhination of 
 Zubair and myself is an absolute necessity for suc- 
 cess. To do any good tee must he together, and
 
 xxxviii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 that without delay ;''^ and he supplemented this 
 by another telegram, saying : " Believe me, / am 
 right ; and do not delay. ^^ The combination was 
 not permitted. 
 
 (11) Sir Evelyn Baring telegraphed to Lord 
 Granville that General Gordon had on several occa- 
 sions pressed for 200 British troops to be sent to 
 Wady Haifa, but that he (Baring) did not think it 
 desirable to comply with the request. 
 
 (12) Gordon desired a British diversion at Ber- 
 ber, but Sir Evelyn Baring replied that there was 
 no intention to send an English force to Berber. 
 
 (13) Gordon, foiled on every point, telegraphed 
 a graceful adieu to Her Majesty's Government. 
 Then came the fall of Berber, upon which Sir 
 Evelyn Baring at once telegraphed to Lord Gran- 
 ville that it had now hecome of the utmost import- 
 ance not only to open the road between Suakin and 
 Berber.^ hut " to come to terms loith the tribes between 
 Berber and Ivartoum ; " and Lord Granville tele- 
 graphed to Sir E. Baring that '"''General Gordon 
 had several times stiggested a movement on Wady 
 Haifa., ivhich might support him by threatening an 
 advance on Dongola., and., under the present cir- 
 cumstances at Berber., this might be found advanta- 
 geous ''"'!! 
 
 After this, may we not well echo Gordon's sen- 
 timents, " What a farce if it did not deal with 
 men's lives ? " If Gordon, instead of being thioarted., 
 had only been not supported., how different might 
 have been the result of his mission to the Soudan ! 
 Indeed, one may say how different woidd have been
 
 INTRODUCTION. xxxix 
 
 the result ! for Gordon has practically said this, and 
 he was a competent and a reliable judge. If England 
 and Egypt had only said, " We will give you no 
 help at all ; do what you can with the material you 
 have about you, and do not refer to us until you 
 have succeeded, or until you have failed," I con- 
 fidently believe Gordon would have at least relieved 
 the beleaguered garrisons of the Soudan, and would 
 have sent down all who wished to leave the country. 
 His weakness was that of trustfulness, the beset- 
 ting weakness of an honourable man : it had stood 
 him in good stead through his campaigns in China, 
 and through his previous operations in the Soudan ; 
 through terrible sufferings which had often made 
 him wish for death. Then he trusted enemies, and 
 they always enabled him to save life. Now he 
 trusted friends, and they only enabled him to die. 
 
 " The evil that men do lives after them, 
 The good is oft interred with their bones." 
 
 Gordon tells us plainly in his Journals how great 
 is the evil done by the policy of Her Majesty's Gov- 
 ernment, and for how long that evil will live when 
 the Government is dead. Is it not possible to avert 
 something of what is about to happen ? Her Maj- 
 esty's Government are, I believe, beginning to realise 
 how thoroughly correct Gordon was in his views, 
 and how mistaken they were in not following his 
 advice at the time he gave it. At all events, after 
 he was dead they expressed their intention of doing 
 much he recommended while he lived. They have 
 been always very late : too late to save Gordon's life,
 
 xl INTRODUCTION. 
 
 and too late to save the lives of many thousands. 
 May they not be yet in time to prevent some of the 
 evil that must live after them? I think Gordon 
 tells them in his Journals they may, and I think he 
 also tells them how. It is impossible to read care- 
 fully what he says without feeling that he did not 
 expect to live long, and that he had a distinct pre- 
 sentiment he would die at Kartoum. At all events 
 there is a strong undercurrent of this presentiment 
 all through, and it even rises to the surface every 
 now and then when he appears to be taking a hope- 
 ful and almost a cheerful view of the situation. At 
 times it carries all before it, as for example when he 
 emphasises the possibility of the fall of Kartoum 
 under the nose of the expedition, and again in the 
 words with which he concludes his sixth and last 
 volume ; but then, on the other hand, it is often 
 quite out of sight, especially at such times as he is 
 discussing his position as Governor-General, and 
 turning over in his mind the expediency of appoint- 
 ing Lord Wolseley or Sir Evelyn Baring as his suc- 
 cessor. But, whether on the surface or deep down, 
 I think it is always there, and I feel sure that some 
 of his numerous efforts at a solution of the Soudan 
 problem were intended as final instructions for Her 
 Majesty's Government, to be read after his death or 
 after the fall of Kartoum. The days of prophecy 
 are gone, and I do not at all wish to place Gordon 
 in the light of the ancient orthodox and professional 
 seer, but in considering his career one cannot avoid 
 being struck by the remarkable way in which the 
 lost gift of prophecy has been replaced by the power
 
 INTRODUCTION. xli 
 
 of combining knowledge with judg-ment. It would 
 be well if Her Majesty's Government would bear 
 this in mind, and lay down a distinct line of policy 
 and action with regard to the Soudan, which should 
 be based upon what Gordon recommends. The re- 
 call of the troops from the Soudan may have been 
 necessary to meet the exigencies of the moment, or 
 it may not ; but it is a pity it did not precede Lord 
 Wolseley's letter to Cassim el Mus Pasha : — 
 
 " We mean to destroy the power of Mohammed Achmet 
 at Kartoum, no matter how long it may take us to do so ; 
 you know Gordon Pasha's countrymen are not likely to 
 turn hack from any enterprise they have begun until it 
 has been fully accomplished. When that happy event 
 takes place I hope to be able to establish you amongst 
 your own people, and that you and all others will realise 
 that the English natio7i does not forget those who serve it 
 faithfully.^'' ^ 
 
 General Gordon's Journals are sufficiently charac- 
 teristic to enable those who read them with care to 
 know their author perfectly. The first volume is 
 alone a very complete introduction, in which each 
 succeeding page brings you to a closer intimacy. If 
 a friendship is not established before reaching the 
 sixth, then all that is noble and chivalrous in man 
 can have no charm for the reader. Examples of his 
 rare genius, his nobility, his honesty, and his mar- 
 vellous energy are to be found throughout, but, in 
 pointing out a few characteristics, I will confine my- 
 self to the first volume, as I propose to refer chiefly 
 to special points of military and political interest in 
 the others. 
 
 8 Egypt, No. 9, End. 3, 43.
 
 xlii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 In this first volume, then, we have an interesting 
 instance of Gordon's nobility, when he declines to 
 have anything to do with certain doubtful proposals 
 made by the apostate Europeans in the Mahdi's 
 camp, for he declares "treachery never succeeds; 
 and it is better to fail with clean hands than to be 
 mixed ujd with dubious acts and dubious men. May 
 be it is better to fall with honour than to gain the 
 victory with dishonour, and in this view the Ulemas 
 are agreed, for they will have nought to do with the 
 proposals of treachery." 
 
 The generosity of his feeling towards the enemy 
 is showTi when he says : " I do not call our enemy 
 rebels, for it is a vexed question whether we are not 
 rebels, seeing I hold the Firman restoring the Sou- 
 dan to its chiefs." His consideration is apparent in 
 his regret at not being more considerate ; and his 
 tolerance in the desire to spare even the lives of 
 traitors. 
 
 His views on hypocrisy are humourously expressed 
 when he is speaking of the Mahdi's trick of bring- 
 ing tears to his eyes by the use of pepper under his 
 finger-nails, and, as tears are considered a proof of 
 sincerity, he recommends the recipe to Cabinet Min- 
 isters who wish to justify some job. 
 
 His severity is evident, in his remarks on diplo- 
 matists, whom he considers most unsatisfactory men 
 to have anything to do with in their official capacity ; 
 and his irritability peeps out when he says : " Eger- 
 ton must have considered I was a complete idiot to 
 have needed permission to contract with tribes to 
 escort down the refugees. I hope he will get pro-
 
 INTRODUCTION. xliii 
 
 moted, and will not be blamed for overstraining his 
 instructions." 
 
 His religious earnestness is everywhere apparent, 
 and he delights in endeavours to interpret Scriptural 
 passages, especially such as are more or less para- 
 doxical. 
 
 As an example of his humility I select the passage 
 where he says : " If we will be with our Master we 
 must be like him, who from His birth to His death 
 may be said to have been utterly miserable as far as 
 things in this world are concerned. Yet I kick at 
 the least obstacle to my will." His desire to help 
 every one is to be seen on almost every page, and 
 his forethought, energy and judgment are also every- 
 where ajjparent. His notions of chivalry do not 
 permit him to countenance the distribution of hon- 
 ours to men who only do what he considers to be 
 their duty, and he does not approve of the Victoria 
 Cross being given in cases of noblesse oblige. His 
 determination often prompts him to speak very 
 plainly : " If you remove me from being Governor- 
 General, then all responsibility is off me ; but if you 
 keep me as Governor-General, then I will at the cost 
 of my commission in Her Majesty's Government 
 see all refugees out of this country." His satire is 
 generally severe, but there is nearly always a cheer- 
 ful or a good - natured ring in it. The following is 
 a fair example : — 
 
 " I am sure I should like that fellow . . . , there is 
 a big-hearted jocularity about his communications, and I 
 should think the cares of life sat easily on him. He 
 wishes to Imow exactly, ' day, hour, and minute,' that
 
 xliv INTRODUCTION. 
 
 I expect to be in difficulties as to provisions and ammu- 
 nition. 
 
 " Now I really think if . . . was to tm-n over the ' ar- 
 chives ' (a delicious word of lus office) , he would see we 
 had been in difficulties for provisions for some months. 
 It is as a man on the bank, having seen liis friend in 
 river already bobbed down two or three tmies, haUs, ' I 
 say, old fellow, let us know when we are to tlu-ow you the 
 life-buoy ; I know you have bobbed down two or three 
 times, but it is a pity to throw you the life-buoy imtil you 
 really are in extremis, and I want to know exactly, for I 
 am a man brought up in a school of exactitude, though I 
 did forget (?) to date my June telegram about that Be- 
 douin escort contract.'' " ^ 
 
 He is a strict disciplinarian, and never hesitates 
 to rebuke laxness in others. " If Abdel Kader is 
 at Kassala," he says, " what on earth are our peo- 
 ple about not to tell me ! for of course I could help 
 liim. We seem to have lost our heads in the Intelli- 
 gence Department, though it costs enough money." 
 
 His bluntness and honesty are often combined 
 with subtle humour, and an excellent notion of all 
 three may be gathered from the last words in this 
 volume of the Journals : — 
 
 " As for ' evacuation,' it is one thing ; as for ' ratting 
 out^ it is another. I am quite of advice as to No. 1 (as 
 we have not the decision to keep the country), but I wiU 
 be no party to No. 2 (this 'rat' business), 1st, because 
 it is dishonourable ; 2nd, because it is not possible (which 
 will have more weight) ; therefore, if it is going to be 
 No. 2, the troops had better not come beyond Berber till 
 the question of what will be done is settled."
 
 INTRODUCTION. xlv 
 
 The interest of the second volume is great from a 
 military jDoint of view, but its value is somewhat les- 
 sened by the fact that General Gordon's instruc- 
 tions and suggestions were based on the assumption 
 that the relieving force would reach him some two 
 months earlier than it did. During those two 
 months the conditions around Kartoum were mate- 
 rially changed, and with these altering conditions 
 General Gordon had to reconsider many of the ma- 
 noeuvres he at first suggested. The political interest 
 chiefly consists in the strong recommendation that 
 the country should be given to the Turks, or that 
 Zubair should be established as Governor-General 
 at Kartoum, and that the Equator should be given 
 to himself. " I will (Z>. F.) keep it," he says, " from 
 Zubair ; " that is to say, " I will guard the country 
 against all slave-hunters." In this volume General 
 Gordon declines the imputation that the Expedition- 
 ary Force has come for him, and shows how, to save 
 our national honour, it had come to extricate the 
 garrisons of the Soudan. Of the troubles these gar- 
 risons were causing him we get a fair notion, but his 
 complaints seem to be only a safety-valve for his hu- 
 mour. He knows the men about him are treacherous 
 and liars, but he almost seeks excuses for them when 
 he says : " Man is essentially a treacherous animal ; 
 and although the Psalmist said in his haste ' all men 
 are liars,' I think he might have said the same at 
 his leisure." This volume concludes with a new ef- 
 fort to solve the Soudan problem by suggesting that 
 the Khedive shall replace him at once by appointing 
 Abdel Kader Governor-General.
 
 xlvl INTRODUCTION. 
 
 This solution is fully discussed in the opening of 
 Volume III. It is not one in which General Gor- 
 don will participate, but it may prevent his being 
 antagonistic to the relieving force. Unless he is de- 
 posed, nothing will induce him to leave the Soudan 
 unless he can extricate the garrisons. In removing 
 him from the Governor-Generalship and in replac- 
 ing him by Abdel Kader, the Government would be 
 utilising a man whom they could mould to their own 
 shape. Of course this solution is, as General Gor- 
 don says, in some degree " a trap," but it recom- 
 mends itself as the only way out of the difficulty, 
 if the Government have decided to abandon the gar- 
 risons. 
 
 The only creditable solution, General Gordon stiU 
 affirms, is to be found in handing the country over 
 to the Turks with a subsidy or a sum down ; and he 
 supplements his argument by a programme showing 
 how by this action Her Majesty's troops coidd leave 
 the Soudan with honour before January 1885. " I 
 think this would read well in history," he says. 
 " Her Majesty's Government, having accepted du- 
 ties in Egypt, and consequently in the Soudan, sent 
 up a force to restore tranquillity, which having been 
 done. Her Majesty's Government handed over the 
 government of the Soudan to the Sultan." The ne- 
 cessity for this solution is the result, in General 
 Gordon's opinion, of the indecisions of Her Majes- 
 ty's Goverment, and he enumerates with great care 
 the causes which have hampered his action and thus 
 required the despatch of a relieving force. This 
 volume is perhaps more cheerful in its tone than any
 
 INTRODUCTION. xlvii 
 
 of the others. The presentiment that the expedition 
 will be too late to prevent disaster is rarely evident, 
 and the advance of the Mahdi promises to decide, 
 at all events, the fate of those who are shut up in 
 Kartoum. " A month will see him defeated or vic- 
 torious, as God may will it," and with this philo- 
 sophical consolation General Gordon ceases to dis- 
 cuss the future of the Soudan, and begins an inter- 
 esting detailed account of the offensive and defensive 
 manoeuvres that are taking place in and around 
 Kartoum. 
 
 In the foiu-th volume, the shortest of all, General 
 Gordon continues his narrative, and shows how nu- 
 merous and how wearisome are the Internal troubles 
 with which he has to contend at Kartoum. Treach- 
 ery is silently at work, while indolence, selfishness, 
 and dishonesty makes those who are not treacherous 
 almost useless. He is the referee of every petty 
 dispute, as much as he is chief justice, administrator, 
 and commander-in-chief. The people demand his 
 decision on every point, j)olitical or personal, and 
 wish to leave it to him to do or not to do, irre- 
 spective of his knowing anything of the merits of 
 the case they bring before him. His counsellors 
 say : " Do what you think right, you will do better 
 than we ; " and his reflection is, " I, poor devil, do 
 not know where to turn." Then in sorrow he ex- 
 claims, " Oh, our Government, our Government ! 
 What has it not to answer for ? Not to me, but to 
 these poor peoj)le. I declare if I thought the town 
 wished the Mahdi I would give it up : so much do I
 
 xlviii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 respect free will." It is doubtless these internal 
 troubles which lead him to say : " It is of course on 
 the cards that Kartoum is taken under the nose of 
 the Expeditionary Force, which will be just too late^ 
 
 In Volume V. which begins on the first day of the 
 Arab New Year, the arrival of the Mahdi at Om- 
 durman is reported. The treachery referred to in 
 the previous volume had led General Gordon to make 
 numerous arrests, a necessity he deplored ; but these 
 arrests in all probability saved the fall of Kartoum 
 on Oct. 21st, for the Mahdi had evidently specu- 
 lated on either a rising in the town on that day or 
 on the gates being opened to him by some of those 
 who were then imprisoned. On this day Gordon 
 also received the news of the Treaty concluded be- 
 tween King John of Abyssinia and Admiral Sir 
 William Hewitt, and his anger at the injustice of 
 such a treaty is as apparent as is the bitterness of 
 his satire ; throughout the whole volume, indeed, he 
 cannot get away from this subject, and though the 
 frequent effort to dismiss it in disgust from his mind 
 is evident, he continually reverts to it. He considers 
 it discreditable, and does not hesitate to say so: 
 moreover, he contends that by the Treaty of Paris, 
 and also by that of Berlin, the integrity of the Otto- 
 man Dominion is guaranteed by the powers, and that 
 it is therefore a farce to say Egypt ceded Kassala. 
 
 His views on the whole policy of Her Majesty's 
 Government are summed up in an imaginary scene 
 in the House of Lords : " The noble Marquis asked 
 what the policy of Her Majesty's Government was ?
 
 INTRODUCTION. xlix 
 
 It was as if he asked the policy of a log floating 
 down stream : it was going to sea, as any one with 
 an ounce of brains could see. Well, that was the 
 policy of it, only it was a decided policy and a 
 straight-forward one to drift along and take advan- 
 tage of every circumstance. His Lordship depre- 
 cated the frequent questioning on subjects which 
 his Lordship had said he knew nothing about, and 
 further did not care to know anything about." 
 
 Fielding, had he been alive, would have envied 
 Gordon the completeness of this humourous satire. 
 
 The results of the policy, as far as it has gone, he 
 shows to have been the loss of some 80,000 lives, 
 and the effectual restoration of the slave-trade and 
 of slave-hunting, " a miserable end to diplomacy, 
 when it would have been so easy in 1880 to have 
 settled the Soudan with decency and quiet, giving 
 up Kordofan, Darfour, the Bahr Gazelle, and the 
 Equator." 
 
 In the latter part of Volume V., but especially in 
 the early part of Volume VI., Gordon fully realises 
 the " Abbas " catastrophe. He knows Stewart and 
 Power are dead. There is no expression of personal 
 regret, though he is " sorry for their friends." He 
 loved them both, and he pays the highest tribute he 
 can to their merits, but he is sure that in their pres- 
 ent they are happier than in their past. Moreover, 
 he had done his best, for every precaution human 
 foresight could conceive he had taken : having done 
 this, the rest was in the hands of God and the dis- 
 aster was " ordained." But these views do not pre- 
 d
 
 1 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 vent him from courting all enquiry, and he even 
 holds a court-martial on himself. His verdict is, 
 that if the " Abbas " was attacked and overpow- 
 ered, he is to hlame ; but that if she was captured 
 by treachery, or if she struck a rock, he is not to 
 hlame. In the one case, he should have foreseen the 
 chance and prevented her going ; in the other he 
 could foresee nothing. It was out of his power to 
 avert treachery, and the " Abbas " drew under two 
 feet of water and was accompanied by two sailing 
 boats. 
 
 He explains with care and clearness why Stewart 
 and Power left him ; they went of their free will, 
 not by his order, for he would not " put them in any 
 danger in which he was not himself." If they went 
 they did him a service, for they could telegraph his 
 views ; if they stayed they could not help him. 
 They could go in honour, for they had promised the 
 people nothing ; he could not go in honour, for he 
 had promised them himself. If Gordon were alive, 
 and thought any one could misinterpret what he 
 says, and thus cast a slur on the memory of either 
 Stewart or Power, he would be greatly pained. His 
 love and admiration for them both was evident ; and 
 he knew that, had it been their duty to remain, they 
 would have stayed to die with him at Kartoum. " If 
 Zubair had been sent in March when I asked for 
 him, we would not have lost Berber, and would never 
 have wanted an expedition," and if Berber had not 
 fallen, Stewart and Power would have been alive. 
 Zubair had been his almost first request, and he 
 never ceases to reo:ret that one who had devoted his
 
 INTRODUCTION. ll 
 
 life to the Soudan should not have been allowed to 
 comprehend its requirements better than those who 
 sat in Downing Sti-eet. 
 
 Within a week of beginning this volume of his 
 Journal, Gordon expected the town of Kartoum to 
 fall ; the recovery of an enormous quantity of stolen 
 biscuit enabled him to hold his own for more than 
 another month. During this time a notion of his 
 troubles may be gathered from what he says up to 
 December 14th, — his real suffering must for ever 
 remain unknown. That it depended upon the suf- 
 fering of others we may feel assured ; he never knew 
 what it was to feel for himself. He felt for his 
 country ; he felt for all he tried to help, and if he 
 was among such as were killed first, his dying 
 thought would have been, " What is to be the fu- 
 ture of all I leave behind?" 
 
 In his Journals — his last words — those familiar 
 with his character and life will see Charles Gordon 
 true to himself to the very end. They will see in 
 him the same ardent passion for justice and for 
 truth ; the same scorn for wrong doing and deceit ; 
 the same gentle pity for the sufferings of all, and 
 the same mercy and forgiveness for his foes ; and 
 with all this is combined the perfection of humility 
 and the sense of imperfection. There is no impa- 
 tience, save with those who wronged his honour and 
 the poor people for whom he died ; there is no un- 
 rest, for he neared that " life of action " for which 
 he had long yearned ; there is no sorrow, no dark 
 doubt, for Charles Gordon was with his God. 
 
 A. EGMONT HAKE.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S POSITION AT KARTOUM. 
 
 Only a very few words on my part are necessary in 
 laying these Journals before the public. 
 
 On New Year's Day, 1884, General Gordon arrived at 
 Brussels from the Holy Land, and at once commenced his 
 arrangements with His Majesty the King of the Belgians 
 to proceed to the Congo- 
 After visiting England once or twice, he left this coun- 
 try for Belgium and the Congo on the morning of the 16th 
 January. 
 
 On the 17th January he was recalled by telegram. He 
 reached London on the morning of the 18th, and was on 
 his road to Kartoum upon that evening. 
 
 At this time he felt quite confident of success, his in- 
 structions being that, by restoring the ancient families, 
 whose territories had been seized by the Egyptian author- 
 ities, to their former power, he would be able to extricate 
 the Egyptian garrisons and civil employes with their fam- 
 ilies, and remove them to Lower Egypt without difficulty. 
 During the voyage, however, from Brindisi to Port 
 Said he prepared a Report, or Memorandum, dated 22nd 
 January, in which, reviewing these instructions, he drew 
 attention to some of the difficulties and complications 
 which were likely to arise in carrying out the policy of 
 Her Majesty's Government, and asked for their support 
 and consideration in case of his being unable to fulfil their 
 expectations with exactness ; and Colonel Stewart, in his
 
 GOftDON'S POSITION AT KARTOUM. liii 
 
 separate observations of the same date, pointed out that, 
 in view of eventualities for which it would be impossible 
 to provide, the wisest course was " to rely on the discretion 
 of General Gordon and his knowledge of the country." 
 
 General Gordon, it will be seen, accepted — and dis- 
 claimed the right to express any opinion of his own upon 
 it — the policy of leaving the Soudan. It appeared to 
 him then that to reconquer that country and restore it to 
 the Egyptian Goverimient without securities for a just and 
 honest administration would be iniquitous ; that, on the 
 other hand, to secure that object would involve an expen- 
 diture of time and money which could not be afforded, 
 and consequently he then came to the conclusion that the 
 Soudan might properly be restored to independence, and 
 left to itself. 
 
 It will be seen, however, that he did not, after his re- 
 turn to the Soudan, remain long of that opinion. His 
 heart warmed at once to the people whom he had faith- 
 fully governed, and whose affections he found, or at all 
 events believed, were constant to him. 
 
 It is necessary here to explain that General Gordon had 
 not intended to go to Cairo, but to proceed via Suakin 
 and Berber. On the invitation, however, of Sir Evelyn 
 Baring, he went to Cairo and accepted at the hands of 
 the Khedive a firman appointing him Governor-General 
 of the Soudan, without which he could have exercised no 
 control over the Egyptian authorities employed in that 
 province. 
 
 It was no part of General Gordon's character to form a 
 definite opinion from imperfectly known facts, and to 
 adhere obstinately to that opinion, notwithstanding the 
 evidence of altered circumstances and new elements. 
 
 We need not therefore be surprised to find that, on 
 arrival at Abu Hamed, on the 8th February, finding the 
 state of the country to be less disorganised than he had
 
 liv GORDON'S POSITION AT KARTOUM. 
 
 supposed, and adverting to the confusion which must ensue 
 if all traces of the Khedive's Government were suddenly- 
 effaced, he made the suggestion that a sort of suzerainty 
 shoiJd be kept up, and that the chief officers of the Soudan 
 should continue to be appointed by the Khedive ; a com- 
 plete and abrupt separation being thus postponed, although 
 the control to be retained would be more nominal than 
 real. 
 
 This feeling in General Gordon's mind grew rapidly 
 stronger as time went on. When he reached Berber he 
 saw still more clearly the position he was in, and became 
 impressed with the impossibility of carrying out his mission 
 with credit, unless he was able to secure to the provinces 
 of the Soudan some sort of government in the place of the 
 one it was intended to withdraw. 
 
 Accordingly, upon the day of his arrival at Kartoum 
 (the 18th February), General Gordon, after pointing out 
 to the Government the difficulties that surroimded liim, 
 inasmuch as the garrisons and employes were to be re- 
 moved, when all form of government would disappear, 
 urged in the strongest terms he covdd employ that power 
 should be placed in the hands of a single man, and that 
 the man to be chosen should be Zubair Pasha. 
 
 Now it may be remarked that although Zubair was one 
 of the most noted slave-hunters that had ever existed, yet 
 his ability and influence could not be surpassed, wliile 
 even the Khedive could not lay claim to any such proud 
 descent — Zubair being a direct descendant of the Abbas- 
 sides. 
 
 This recommendation was rejected by the Government, 
 although renewed over and over again in a most persistent 
 manner by General Gordon, backed up by Sir Evelyn 
 Baring, who, on the 9th March, says : " I believe that 
 Zubair Pasha may be made a bulwark against the ap- 
 proach of the Mahcli. Of course there is a certain risk
 
 GORDON'S POSITION AT KARTOUM. Iv 
 
 that he will constitute a danger to Egypt, but this risk is, 
 I tliink, a small one ; and it is in any case preferable to 
 incui' it rather than to face the certain disadvantages of 
 withdrawing without making any provision for the future 
 goverimient of the country, which would thus be sure to 
 fall "jider the power of the Madhi." 
 
 I must admit that, up to the end of July, I was of 
 oj)inion that if Zubair had been sent up General Gordon's 
 life would have been in danger. On the other hand, I 
 am aware that a Cabinet Minister of liigh position was, 
 from the first, in favour of sending Zubair up, and so in- 
 deed was Lord Wolseley. 
 
 At the beginning of August, General Gordon having 
 again begged that Zubair might be sent to Kartoum, I 
 used my endeavours to secure the attainment of that ob- 
 ject, but without success. It was now apparent that 
 General Gordon could not in honor leave until some form 
 of future government had been determined upon. 
 
 Zubair 's appointment having been disallowed, the only 
 alternative seemed to be the Turks, and the suggestion 
 was made that they should occupy the Soudan. Any- 
 thing, in fact, to secm-e the comitry against anarchy and 
 its reversion to barbarism. 
 
 It must be borne in mind. General Gordon did not ask 
 that an expedition should be sent ; on the contrary, he 
 deprecated sending any, unless for the purpose of saving 
 the garrisons and of establishing some form of govern- 
 ment. 
 
 The proposed movement of two squadrons of cavalry 
 from Suakin to Berber is outside the question. It was to 
 save Berber they were applied for, not for the relief of 
 Kartoum. General Gordon's message was, "Send troops 
 (200) to Berber, or you will lose it ! " It is fair to Sir 
 Evelyn Baring to add, that on the 24th March he said, 
 " Under present circumstances I think an effort should be
 
 Ivi GORDON'S POSITION AT KARTOUM. 
 
 made to help General Gordon from Suakin, if it is at all 
 a possible operation." 
 
 If General Gordon had known how much in unison Sir 
 Evelyn Baring's advice had been with his own, and what 
 support he had received at Sir Evelyn's hands, he would 
 have been eager, had his life been spared, to acknowledge 
 that co-operation. 
 
 Before concluding, I must say a few words with respect 
 to the severe comments, which occur in places tlu'oughout 
 the Diaries, upon the meagre information he received fi'om 
 the Intelligence Department,^ in connection with which the 
 names of Major Chermside and Major Kitchener are men- 
 tioned. Now, with regard to the former of these officers, 
 he was at Suakin, and therefore does not come into the 
 question. With respect, however, to Major Kitchener, I 
 am persuaded that he did all in his power to get mes- 
 sengers into Kartoum, for just in the same way General 
 Gordon fancied he got them out ; and yet how few suc- 
 ceeded in reaching their destination. In the same way too 
 as General Gordon fancied his messengers had reached, 
 so did Mr. Egerton fancy his had been successful, for at 
 the end of July he liinted that General Gordon could have 
 sent messengers out, in the same way as others had got in, 
 and yet at that date only one had done so. It is due to 
 Major Kitchener to say that from the time he went to 
 Dongola he certainly kept us acquainted vdth the position 
 of "affaii's at Kartoum in a manner most reliable, and de- 
 serving of much credit. 
 
 With these prefatory remarks I leave my brother's 
 Journals to speak for themselves. He shows, to my mind, 
 with the utmost clearness the position in which he was 
 placed, and reiterates over and over again that nothing 
 will induce him to leave Kartoum until he has secured 
 
 1 This department must not be confounded with the one associated 
 with the Quartermaster-General at the War Office.
 
 GORDON'S POSITION AT KARTOUM. Ivii 
 
 the safety of all those who have stood by him. He says, 
 " I will end these egotistical remarks by saying that no 
 persuasion will induce me to change my views ; and that, 
 as to force, it is out of the question, for I have the people 
 with me, at any rate, of the towns which hold out ; there- 
 fore, if Her Majesty's forces are not prepared to relieve 
 the whole of the garrisons, the General should consider 
 whether it is worth coming up. In his jjlace, if not so 
 prepared, I would not do so. I do not dictate ; but I say, 
 what every gentleman in Her Majesty's army would agree 
 to, that it would be mean to leave men, who (though they 
 may not come up to our ideas as heroes) have stuck to me, 
 though a Chi'istian dog in their eyes, tlirough great diffi- 
 culties, and thus force them to surrender to those who 
 have not conquered them, and to do that at the bidding 
 of a foreign Power to save one's own skin. Why, the 
 black sluts would stone me if they thought I meditated 
 such action." 
 
 Up to the 14th December General Gordon could have 
 got away at any time, had he been so inclined ; in fact, he 
 says, "As for myself, I could make good my retreat at 
 any moment I wished." After that date we know noth- 
 ing. No doubt Omdurman fell at once, and in aU prob- 
 ability the Island of Tuti followed soon after. General 
 Gordon must then have seen that no relief could reach 
 him, provisions were rapidly running out, treachery, as he 
 well knew, was at work, and the end came. 
 
 He writes to his sister on the 14th December : " God 
 rules all ; and as God will rule to His glory and our wel- 
 fare. His will be done. I am quite happy, and, like Law- 
 rence, have tried to do my duty." 
 
 In conclusion, I will add in General Gordon's own 
 words, " It is, of course, on the cards that Kartoum is 
 taken under the nose of the Expeditionary Force, which 
 will be just too late. The Expeditionary Force wUl per-
 
 Iviii GORDON'S POSITION AT KARTOUM. 
 
 haps tliink it necessary to retake it ; but that will be no 
 use, and will cause loss of life uselessly on both sides. It 
 had far better quietly retui'n with its tail between its legs ; 
 for, once Kartouni is taken, the sun will have set and the 
 people will not care much for the satellites. If Kartoum 
 falls, then go quietly back to Cairo, for you will only lose 
 men and spend money uselessly in carrying on the cam- 
 paign." 
 
 H. W. GORDON.
 
 THE IVnSSION OF COLONEL SIR CHARLES 
 WILSON, R. E., K.C.M. G. 
 
 Vert severe criticisms have been made upon the man- 
 ner in wliich Sir Charles "Wilson carried out the duties 
 that had been entrusted to Iiim, with regard to commu- 
 nicating with General Gordon at Kartoima. 
 
 The charges made against him may be with advantage 
 restricted to two : — 
 
 First : The delay in not proceeding to Kartoum at the 
 latest on the morning of the 22nd ; and 
 
 Second : In not having pushed on to Kartoum itself in 
 order to ascertain General Gordon's fate beyond a doubt. 
 
 Sir Charles Wilson left England in order to assume the 
 position of Head of the Intelligence Department, and 
 also with the tacit understanding that he was to be sjje- 
 ciaUy employed in order to open direct commuuication 
 with General Gordon. 
 
 Having this special object in view, Sir Charles Wilson 
 accompanied Sir Herbert Stewart's force towards the 
 Nile ; and, when that gallant and highly-distinguished 
 officer was wounded on the 19th January, he found him- 
 self in command. 
 
 Now this force, which did not equal a British battalion 
 upon its war strength, was hampered with a number of 
 womided officers and men, some of whom were with it, 
 while others — the bulk — were in a zereba constructed 
 at some distance in its rear.
 
 Ix MISSION OF SIR CHARLES WILSON. 
 
 Sir Charles Wilson, however, advanced to the Nile, 
 where he bivouacked for the night ; and on the morning 
 of the 20th he returned to the zereba, and brought back 
 with him to Gubat the woimded who had been left be- 
 hind. 
 
 Early in the morning of the 21st, General Gordon's 
 steamers appeared, and landed their soldiers, who took 
 part in the operations of that day. 
 
 Reports now reached Sir Charles Wilson that, exclusive 
 of the Ai"abs in Metemma, large numbers were advancing 
 from the north and from the south. It therefore became 
 imperatively necessary for him to secure the safety of 
 those who were under his orders before he could proceed 
 upon his mission. 
 
 Accordingly, on the morning of the 22nd he made a 
 reconnaissance towards the north, and, finding no enemy, 
 he turned liis attention to the south. 
 
 The whole of the 23rd was occupied in making arrange- 
 ments for the proper protection of his force, and he could 
 not have left before the morning of the 24th. 
 
 It may here be observed, in confirmation of the report 
 of the Arabs arriving from the south, that Sir Charles 
 Wilson, on his road to Kartoum, saw a body of men at a 
 place on the left bank of the Nile, about twelve miles 
 south of Gubat. 
 
 It is really beyond the question to consider what Gen- 
 eral Gordon's position at this time was at Kartoum. 
 When General Gordon sent down his last Journal, on the 
 14th December, he stated he coidd not hold out for more 
 than ten days, and he was in daily expectation that the 
 Fort at Omdurman would fall ; while even then, with that 
 Fort in his possession, he considered it would be very 
 hazardous for any steamer to attempt to come up to Kar- 
 toum. On the 28th November he says : "I hope the offi- 
 cer in command will clear Halfeyeh before he pushes on
 
 MmSION OF SIR CHARLES WILSON. Ixi 
 
 to this, for he may get a shell from the works at Omdur- 
 man (not the Fort) into one of his steamers. I do not 
 like to risk sending the Bordeen steamer down to give the 
 warning. If the steamers do come up, and have not the 
 sense to stop at Half eyeh, I shaU endeavour to warn them. 
 The danger is at the Ras or nose, on the junction of the 
 Blue and White Niles. The proper thing to do would 
 be to clear Halfeyeh camp of the Ai-abs before coming 
 on here. You could then communicate with Kartoum by 
 land, and avoid running the gauntlet of Arab guns in 
 penny steamboats." 
 
 Now if General Gordon so expressed himself on the 
 28th November, two months before Sir Charles Wilson 
 got to Kartoum, and when the fort at Omdurman and the 
 island of Tuti were both in the General's hands, what 
 must have been the state of affairs when both those posi- 
 tions had fallen and were in the possession of the Arabs ? 
 
 Returning to Sir Charles Wilson's progress with his 
 detachment of only twenty men, when he got to the point 
 of danger, as pointed out by General Gordon, he found 
 himself under a cross fire of artillery and musketry from 
 all points of the compass, including Kartoum itself. Un- 
 der such circumstances he had no alternative but to retire, 
 since, had he continued his journey, he could never have 
 secured his retreat. 
 
 Consequently I cannot but express my feeling that on 
 
 neither head of charge does any blame attach to Sir 
 
 Charles Wilson. 
 
 H. W. Gordon.
 
 DESCRIPTION OF THE JOURNAL. 
 
 [Lieut.-Colonel Stewart kept a complete journal of events 
 that occurred at Kartoum from the 1st March to the 9th Sep- 
 tember, upon the night of which day he left.] 
 
 Generaij Gordon, who had assisted in great measure 
 in the preparation of this Joiirnal, describes it as a perfect 
 gem. 
 
 It was in duplicate, and was captured when Colonel 
 Stewart was murdered ; and, according to Slatin Bey's 
 account (who at the time was \vith the Mahdi), is now in 
 his (the Mahdi's) possession. 
 
 General Gordon's Diaries are in six parts. 
 
 The First is from the 10th of September to the 23rd of 
 September, and contains 78 pages. 
 
 The Second is from the 23rd of September to the 30th 
 of September, and contains 41 pages. 
 
 The Third is from the 1st to the 12th of October, and 
 contains 85 pages. 
 
 The Fourth is from the 12th to the 20th of October, and 
 contains 32 pages. 
 
 The Fifth is from the 20th of October to the 5th of 
 November, and contains 93 pages. 
 
 The Sixth is from the 5th of November to the 14th of 
 December, and contains 104 pages. 
 
 The First, Second, Third, and Fourth Diaries are ad- 
 dressed to Lieut.-Colonel Stewart, C M. G., or the Chief 
 of the Staff. The Fifth is addressed to the Chief of the
 
 DESCRIPTION OF THE JOURNAL. Ixiii 
 
 StafP of the Expeditionary Force for the relief of the gar- 
 rison, and the Sixth is addressed in the same way. 
 
 The Fii'st and Second Diaries were sent on the 30th of 
 September by steamer for Berber via Shendy. 
 
 The Tliird was sent by the steamer Towfikia on the 
 12th of October to Metemma. 
 
 The Fourth was sent to Shendy in a steamer on the 
 21st of October. 
 
 The Fifth left in the steamer Bordeen on the 5th of 
 November for Metemma ; 
 
 And the Sixth also left in the steamer Bordeen on the 
 15th of December. 
 
 Each Diary has the same remarks, sometimes repeated 
 three times, on the outside of the Journal, to the efEect that 
 " it should be pruned down prior to publication." 
 
 The Jom'nals or Diaries were handed over to Sir 
 Charles Wilson on the 22nd of January, at Metemma, 
 by the officer commanding General Gordon's steamers. 
 
 The Journals were, in my opinion, properly considered 
 by the Government as official documents (see letter ac- 
 companying the last Journal), and were handed over to 
 me with the remark that " So far as Her Majesty's Gov- 
 ernment had a desire in the matter, it was for the publi- 
 cation of the whole Diary ; but they did not wish to inter- 
 fere with my discretion." 
 
 The note at the end of the first Journal evidently im- 
 plies that when the Government have done with the Joui*- 
 nals, then Miss Gordon is to have them. 
 
 The publication being, therefore, in my hands, I have 
 arranged with Messrs. Kegan Paul, Trench & Co. for theu- 
 issue in a very nearly entire state, only some six or seven 
 pages being omitted, which contain, in my opinion, no 
 matter of public interest ; while, with regard to names, 
 those who are weU acquainted with the affairs of Egypt 
 can fill up the blanks without difficulty.
 
 Ixiv DESCRIPTION OF THE JOURNAL. 
 
 It is to be hoiiecl that strenuous endeavours may be made 
 in order to obtain Colonel Stewart's Journal, together with 
 those of General Gordon from the 15th of December to 
 the day upon wliich Kartoum fell, as well as that of the 
 Doctor promised to the " Times." 
 
 The Cairo telegrams alluded to in the Diaries have not 
 been handed over to me. 
 
 H. W. GORDON.
 
 POSITION OF THE STEAMERS, DECEMBER 
 
 14th, 1884. 
 
 Abbas 
 Bordeen . 
 Chabeen . 
 Fascher . 
 Husseinyeh 
 Ismailia . 
 Mahomet All 
 Mansoivrah 
 Monsuhania 
 Saphia 
 Talataiveen . 
 Towfikia . 
 Zubair 
 Restimei: 
 Lost . . . . 
 
 Lost with Col. Stewart. 
 
 Metemma, took down Journal VI. 
 
 In dock, Kartoum. 
 
 Captured at Berber by Arabs. 
 
 Sunk off Onidurman. 
 
 At Kartoum. 
 
 Cajitui-ed up Blue Nile by Arabs. 
 
 Metemma or Shendy. 
 
 Captured at Berber by Arabs. 
 
 Metemma or Sliendy. 
 
 Ditto. ditto. 
 
 Ditto. ditto. 
 
 Kartoum. 
 
 At Kartoum ,3 — 1 in dock. 
 
 At Metemma waiting for Lord Wolseley 5 
 
 13
 
 BOOK I.
 
 On outside wrapper (as glass-cloth) : 
 
 No secrets as far as I am concerned. 
 
 C. G. GORDON. 
 
 Lt.-Colonel Stewart, C. M. G. 
 or 
 Chief of the Staff, Lord Wolseley, G. C. B. 
 Soudan Exijeditionary Force. 
 
 Journal of Events — Kartoum, Vol. I. 
 From 10th Sept. to 23rd Sept., 1882. 
 
 On Cover at back : 
 General Gordon's Journal 
 From the 10th to 23rd September, 1884. 
 
 N. B. — This Journal will want pruning out if thought neces- 
 sary to publish. 
 
 C. G. GORDON. 
 
 lo/g/si.
 
 KARTOUM 
 
 1884 
 
 drawn fiom rough, sketn^s 
 niadelbiy- the late 
 M. GENERAL C.C.GORDON , C .B- 
 
 EngishMilas 
 
 Populabon ofSoFUnmv , 40,000 
 A.k.,Artmd,Boats (Santdls) 
 B.B.,STeasbf/ofka. 
 
 ©HalftyeK
 
 JOURNAL. 
 
 Vide note as to pruning down on outside. — C. G. G. 
 
 September 10. — Colonel Stewart, MM. Power and 
 Herbin, left during the night for Dongola, md Ber- 
 ber. 
 
 Spy came in from south front, and one from Hal- 
 feyeh reports Arabs will not attack, but will continue 
 the blockade. 
 
 Sent off two sets of telegrams by a spy, who will 
 go to Shendy. 
 
 Yesterday, when the messenger went out to de- 
 liver my answer to the Arabs, in response to Mah- 
 di's letter, though he had a white flag, they fired on 
 him, and tried to capture him. They use the white 
 flag, and find it respected by us, and that we let 
 their men go back. They chain any men we send 
 to them. 
 
 It is wonderful how the people of the town, who 
 have every possible facility to leave the city, cling 
 to it, and how, indeed, there are hundreds who flock 
 in, though it is an open secret we have neither 
 money nor food.^ Somehow this makes me feel con- 
 
 1 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 mercv sent Gordon Pasha to us m
 
 4 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 fident in the future, for it is seldom that an impulse 
 such as this acts on each member of a disintegrated 
 mass without there being some reason for it, which 
 those who act have no idea of, but which is a sort of 
 instinct. Truly I do not think one could inflict a 
 greater punishment on an inhabitant of Kartoum 
 tlian to force him to go to the Arabs. 
 
 Half ey eh reports that Faki Mu staph a, who was in 
 command of the Arabs on the west or left bank of 
 the White Nile, wishes to join the Government. 
 He is informed we are glad of it, but wish him to 
 remain quiet, and to take no active part till he sees 
 how the scales of the balance go ; if we rise, then he 
 can act ; if we fall, he is not to compromise himself ; 
 but what we ask him is to send up our spies, which 
 he can do without risk.^ The same advice was given 
 to the people of Shendy, who wished to issue out and 
 attack Berber. 
 
 The runaways of Tuti ^ wish to come back, which 
 is allowed. 
 
 The " matches " used for the mines are all iin- 
 
 the midst of our calamities of the siege, and we should all have perished 
 of hunger and been destro_ved. But we, sustained by liis intelligence 
 and great military skill, have been preserved in Kartoum until now." — 
 Egypt, No. 35, p. 112 ; see also Appendix AB. — Ed. " 
 
 2 In this passage we have an example of the old and perfect fairness 
 with which General Gordon dealt with others. Before allowing Musta- 
 pha 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 dosbt existed? Gordon was of opinion that it would 
 not, and tlius he bade IMustapha wait events, and do for him that only 
 which involved no risks. — Ed. 
 
 s Tuti is an island at the junction of the White and Blue Nile. — Ed
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 5 
 
 islied, and we are obliged to go back to powder hose, 
 and unite the mines in families of ten. 
 
 Rows on rows of wire entanglement are being 
 placed around the lines. General Gordon's horse 
 was captured by the Arabs in the defeat of El foun ; 
 the other staff horse got a cut on the head, but is 
 now all right. 
 
 The Mahdi is still at Rahad.* The answer to his 
 letter (vide Colonel Stewart's Journal) was sent 
 open, so that the Arab leaders could read its con- 
 tents. 
 
 With respect to letters written to the Mahdi and 
 to the Arab chiefs, commenting on the apostasy of 
 Europeans, they may, and are, no doubt, hard, but 
 it is not a small thing for a European, for fear of 
 death, to deny our faith ; it was not so in old times, 
 and it should not be regarded as if it was taking off 
 one coat, and putting on another. If the Christian 
 faith is a myth, then let men throw it off, but it is 
 mean and dishonourable to do so merely to save one's 
 life if one believes it is the true faith. What can 
 be more strong than these words, " He who denies 
 me on earth I will deny in heaven." The old mar- 
 tyrs regarded men as their enemies, who tried to 
 jjrevent them avowing their faith. In the time of 
 Queens Mary and Elizabeth, what men we had; and 
 then it was for less than here, for it was mainly the 
 question of the Mass, while here it is the question of 
 the denial of our Lord and of his passion. It is 
 perhaps as well to omit this, if this journal is pub- 
 lished, for no man has a right to judge another. 
 Politically and morally, however, it is better for us 
 
 * Near El Obeyed and about 200 miles from Kartoum. — Ed.
 
 6 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 not to have anything to do with the apostate Euro- 
 peans in the Arab camp. Treachery never suc- 
 ceeds, and, however matters may end, it is better to 
 fall with clean hands, than to be mixed up with 
 dubious acts and dubious men. Maybe it is better 
 for us to fall with honour, than to gain the victory 
 with dishonour, and in this view the Ulemas of the 
 town are agreed ; they will have nought to do with 
 the proposals of treachery. 
 
 No doubt the letters to the Arabs will make the 
 Arab chiefs work on the Europeans with them, to 
 take an active part against us, by saying to those 
 Europeans, " You are cast out ; " but the Arabs will 
 never trust them really, so they can do little against 
 us. 
 
 We had a regular gaol delivery to-day, letting 
 out some fifty, and are sending to the Arabs about 
 nine prisoners whom it is not advisable to keep in 
 the town. A donkey quietly grazing near the North 
 Fort exploded one of the mines tliere (an iron alem- 
 bic which belonged to the time of Mahomet Ali, and 
 had been used for the reduction of gold ; it held 
 some 10 lbs. of powder) ; the donkey, angry and 
 surprised, wallced off unhurt ! These alembics are 
 
 of this shape, braced by iron straps together. It is 
 extraordinary that after a good deal of rain, and
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 7 
 
 three months' exposure, the domestic matchbox 
 should have retained its vitality. 
 
 The school here is most interesting, as the schol- 
 ars get a certain ration. It is always full, viz., two 
 hundred. Each boy has a wooden board, on which 
 his lesson is written, and on visiting it the object of 
 each boy is to be called out to read his lesson, which 
 they do \\dth a swaying motion of body, and in a sing- 
 song way, like the Jews do at the wailing place at 
 Jerusalem and in their synagogues, from which we 
 may infer this was the ancient way of worship, for 
 the lessons are always from the Koran. Little black 
 doves with no pretension to any nose, and not more 
 than two feet high, push forward to say the first ten 
 letters of the alphabet, which is all they know. 
 
 We have completed the census (^ride Colonel 
 Stewart's Journal),^ and have 34,000 people in the 
 town. 
 
 Septemher 11. — Stewart's steamers, which had 
 been delayed at Half eyeh ^ owing to some machin- 
 ery accident, left last night for Berber.'^ Spy re- 
 ports that one of captured steamers at Berber is 
 disabled by the Arabs. 
 
 When Cuzzi ^ came to the lines yesterday, the of- 
 ficer Hassan Bey made him walk over on his knees 
 
 5 Vide Sir Henry Gordon's Prefatory Note. — En. 
 
 8 A small town eight miles north of Kartoum. — Ed. 
 
 ■? Berber is about 200 miles from Kartoum. — Ed. 
 
 8 English Consular Agent at Berber. According to M. ITerbin's tele- 
 gram from Kartoum received by M. Barrere on 22nd September, 1884, 
 Cuzzi had gone to Kordofan, but whether free or as a prisoner was not 
 stated — Egypt, No. 35 (188-4), No. 142. — Ed.
 
 8 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 in order to pass into lines, pointing out to him that 
 the lines were thickly spread with fearfid mines. 
 Cuzzi asked what one would do when the Nile fell, 
 and was told that these new mines would be put 
 down as the river fell. Hassan Bey put Cuzzi into 
 a hut, and questioned him as to the whereabouts of 
 the Mahdi. He said first he was at Duem,^ and 
 when pressed he agreed the Mahdi was in Kordof an, 
 and had not moved. He said the Mahdi had not 
 more than two regiments ; that he had lost heavily 
 in fighting the mountain tribes of Nubia, and had 
 not much ammunition left ; that Waled a Goun 
 had some 200 regulars with him, 10 mountain guns, 
 and 2 Krupps, but only 5 boxes of mountain -gun 
 ammunition, and 3 boxes of Krupp, and 5 boxes of 
 Remington. (The Arabs captured at our defeat at 
 El foun 75,000 rounds, so that will help them.) 
 Waled a Goun wanted to go to Giraffe, where Abou 
 Gugliz was defeated, but Abou Gugliz said it would 
 never do. Cuzzi looked pretty miserable. Outside 
 the lines were three Arabs and Zarada (a Greek) ; 
 they waited for Cuzzi. Soon after Cuzzi had left 
 for the Arab camp, two dervishes came in with the 
 Mahdi's letter (mde Colonel Stewart's Journal), and 
 a dervish dress from the Mahdi to me. They were 
 given the letters I had received for Slatin for Cairo, 
 and my answer to the Arabs ; also the horse head- 
 stall which Abou Gugliz had lost, at which they 
 were amused, and went off to the Arab camp. I 
 sent out my letter in answer to the Mahdi (vide 
 Colonel Stewart's Journal) with a slave, upon whom 
 
 ^ Duem is a town on the White Nile about 100 miles from Kartoum. 
 — Ed.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 9 
 
 they fired. Talataween and Bordeen left for Sen- 
 naar this morning to bring down dhoora.^^ Letter 
 written to the Sheikh el Obeyed ^^ proposing " we 
 should mutually remain quiet, &e., &c., with relation 
 to one another, as we are rendering the country a 
 desert." 
 
 Jer. xvii. 5. " Cursed (thus saith the Lord) is 
 the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his 
 arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord ; " 
 therefore cursed is he of the Lord, who hopes by 
 any arrangement of forces, or by exterior help, to 
 be relieved from the position we are in. Jer. xvii. 7. 
 " Blessed (thus saith the Lord) is he that trusteth 
 in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is," therefore 
 blessed is he " of the Lord " who makes all his ar- 
 rangements of forces, without any reliance on such 
 arrangements, or on any exterior help, but trusts in 
 the Lord.^^ How impossible for man alone to ac- 
 cept these views, for with what heart can he make 
 his arrangements if he does not trust in their suc- 
 cess ! Curious verses, Ezekiel xxix. 10-14,^^ as to 
 
 1" A cereal verj"- much resembling Indian corn. — Ed. 
 
 11 The Sheikh el Obeyed declared for the Mahdi in March, 1884. 
 
 12 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 whicli was constantly at work in Gordon's 
 mind, and this to the effect that man should make every effort towards 
 the attainment of perfection, and tlien, 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. 
 
 13 '• Beliold, 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 mhabited forty years.
 
 10 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 Egypt being waste for forty years from the Tower of 
 Syene (Assouan) to frontier of Ethiopia ; it is cer- 
 tainly the Soudan which is meant, and it is in a fair 
 way of being a desert. 
 
 A Dervish came in with a letter from Abdel 
 Kader, the Sheikh on the White Nile, which, with 
 answer, is annexed ; ^^ he also brought a letter from 
 the messengers who brought in the Mahdi 's letter 
 on 9th September (vide Col. Stewart's Journal). 
 They said they had not received my answer, which 
 it will be remembered was sent out by a slave, whom 
 they fired uj)on. This man also brought in a letter 
 from a Greek, Calamatino,^^ who begs to come in 
 and tell me important news for all Europe. His 
 letter and my answer are annexed. 
 
 It will be noticed that Cuzzi adds " he is going to 
 Berber to-day," so he may meet with Stewart. They 
 might have gone dow^l together had they mutually 
 have known of one another's departure. 
 
 A soldier captured at Obeyed came in, and reports 
 that his comrades would come in en masse if we 
 would let them come at night. Abou Gugiiz denies 
 that the head-stall I sent to him is his. 
 
 I put down our defeat on the Dem or head-quar- 
 
 "And I will make the land of Egj'pt 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. 
 
 1* Appendix A and A 1. 
 
 '5 Appendix B. , •
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 11 
 
 ters of Sheikh el Obeyed to two things — 1. A lot 
 o£ Kartoum pedlars went out to loot, and they broke 
 the square. 2. Mahomet Ali Pasha captured a lad 
 of twelve or fourteen years of age, and the little 
 chap spoke out boldly, and said he believed Maho- 
 met Achmet was the Mahdi, and that we were dogs. 
 He was shot ! Before 1 heard of our defeat I heard 
 of this, and I thought " THAT will not pass una- 
 venged." There was an old belief among old Chris- 
 tians that every event which happens on earth is 
 caused by some action being taken in heaven ; the 
 action in heaven being the cause of the event on 
 earth, nide Revelation, when at the opening of seals 
 the trumpet sounds, &c., &c., all events exercised in 
 heaven are followed by events on earth. This being 
 the case, how futile are our efforts to turn things out 
 of their course. Vials are poured out on earth 
 whence events happen. To me, it seems little what 
 those events may be, but that the great object of our 
 lives is how we bear those events in our individual- 
 ity. If we trust in the flesh, thus saith the Lord, 
 we are cursed ; if we trust in Him we are blessed. 
 I cannot think that there are any promises for an- 
 swers to prayer made for temporal things ; the prom- 
 ises are to hear prayer, and to give strength to bear 
 with quiet what may be the Will of God. A vial is 
 poured on earth ; events happen ; one is furious with 
 the British Government for these events ; but if we 
 were logical, we should be furious with the pourer 
 out of the vial, and that we shrink from being, for 
 He is the Almighty who pours out the vial. 
 
 This afternoon another mine blew up at Tuti ; the
 
 12 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 victim was another donkey, who, however, did not 
 get off so well as his colleague of the North Fort, 
 for he lost his hind quarters, and was kUled. — R. 
 LP. 
 
 We cannot help thinking something has happened 
 in Europe of a startling nature, and which is known 
 to the Arabs in an indistinct way, for they evidently 
 look on the game as theirs, and that vnthout fight- 
 ing, of which they show no sign. Abou Gugliz (in 
 remonstrating with Waled a Goun, who wished to 
 descend the river) told him "that his forts were 
 better than any at Cairo, but that the soldiers came 
 over them, like afreets; " ^^ so says the Dervish who 
 came in to-day. 
 
 We decided to-night to send out a letter to Arabs, 
 saying that though we will not admit any European 
 into the place we will permit an interview, with any 
 European they may wish to send to a flag placed in 
 front of lines, with the Greek Consul and Greek 
 Doctor. 
 
 September 12. — It is most dispiriting to be in the 
 position I am, if it was not good for me, when I 
 think that, when Heft, I could say, "no man could 
 lift his hand or foot in the land of Soudan " ^'' with- 
 out me (Gen. xli. 44) ^^ and now we cannot calculate 
 on our existence over twenty-four hours. The jdco- 
 
 '^ " Go, and with ghouls and afrits rave." — The Giaour. 
 
 1'' These words maj' be taken literalh^ Such was Gordon's power and 
 influence in 1879, when he resigned the Governor-Generalship of the 
 Soudan. — En. 
 
 18 "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.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 13 
 
 pie are all against us, and what a power they have ; 
 they need not fight, but have merely to refuse to sell 
 us their grain. The stomach governs the world, and 
 it was the stomach (a despised organ) which caused 
 our misery from the beginning. It is wonderful that 
 the ventral tube of man governs the world, in small 
 and great things. 
 
 One of Seyd Mahomet Osman's family, come in 
 from Shendy, reports Osman Digna, as writing to 
 Berber, reporting the arrival of the English at Sua- 
 kin, their purchase of camels, and advance. The 
 Arab chief of Berber assembled his subordinates 
 and told them this, also of the advance of the troops 
 from Debbeh commanded by English (Wood's force), 
 and recommended them to collect their men. The 
 two captured steamers at Berber are on opposite 
 sides of river. 
 
 Sent out letter to the Arabs to-day, saying I would 
 let the Greek Consul come out and meet the Greek 
 who had written to me: the Arabs, this time, did 
 not fire on the flao; of truce. 
 
 Church parade of Arabs on south front, but very 
 far off. 
 
 The man from Shendy reports that all the right 
 bank of the Nile is quiet. We have sent out an 
 escort to try and capture Cuzzi, who is on his way 
 to Berber. 
 
 It certainly is a curious exemplification of how 
 very lightly religions sit on men, and to note the 
 fearful apostasy of both Mussulmans and Christians, 
 when their lives or property are menaced. There is 
 scarcely one great family of the Soudan, families
 
 14 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 who can trace their pedigree for five hundred years, 
 who have not accepted Mahomet Achmet as Mahdi, 
 to save their property, though they laugh at the idea 
 afterwards. I am using this argument with them, 
 in saying, " You ask me to become a Mussulman to 
 save my life, and you yourself acknowledge Mahomet 
 Achmet as the Mahdi, to save your lives ; why, if 
 we go on this principle, we will be adopting every 
 religion whose adherents threaten our existence, for 
 you know and own, when you are safe, that Maho- 
 met Achmet is not the Mahdi." ^^ 
 
 One of our captured soldiers from Obeyed came 
 in from Waled a Goun, and four others with a wo- 
 man came in from Faki Mustapha (two of the last 
 were men slaves of the unfortunate Hassan Pasha 
 Ibrahim, who was executed) ; they report food scarce 
 in the Arab camp, and that many are striving to run 
 away, owing to the way they are bullied. 
 
 Ulemas are writing letters to Arab chiefs, protest- 
 ing against their acts, as being contrary to Muslim 
 religion. 
 
 The Greeks and other prisoners in Obeyed, &c., 
 comjolain bitterly of their privations and ill-treat- 
 ment by the Arabs, in the letters they sent in here 
 to other Greeks. 
 
 I was awakened this morning by a woman crying 
 out, " My son has been murdered, and I demand 
 justice." Her little only boy had, it appears, been 
 in one of the Arab water-wheels, which are moved 
 
 1" "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.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 15 
 
 by oxen, and a man had pushed liim off ; liis skull 
 was partially fractured, but he had been in hospital 
 for some days, and we hoped for his recovery, when 
 inflammation set in, and he died. He was a nice 
 little bright-eyed, chocolate-coloured child of eight 
 years old — the mother is a widow. One is drawn 
 towards the children of this country, both browns 
 and blacks ; the former are of a perfect bronze 
 colour. 
 
 The browns and blacks bear their wounds without 
 a murmur ; the poor fellaheen soldiers yell upon the 
 slio-htest touch to their wounds. 
 
 One of the Arab chiefs came to the Shoboloha 
 defile, and tried to raise the people to occupy the 
 passage ; the people refused, and the Arab chief 
 went off. 
 
 There is a negro soldier in hospital with a cut on 
 the nose from a sword ; the cut has entered the nos- 
 trils, giving him four openings instead of two — it 
 is on the bridge of the nose (if a negro nose can be 
 said to have a bridge), and the man's cheeks are 
 untouched. 
 
 One man received a wound in the chest ; he lived 
 eleven days, and died. The doctor found a bullet 
 lodged in the centre of his heart, in wall of ventricle. 
 The doctor has this heart in spirits. It was a ball 
 weighing the same as our Martini-Henri bullet. 
 
 The negro soldiers are wonderfully clean, while 
 the fellaheen and Turkish lot are just the reverse ; 
 the former have the gloss of a well-cleaned and pol- 
 ished boot, such as the little London shoeblack loves 
 to turn out for a penny.
 
 16 
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 A Greek came in from the Arabs to-night ; I sent 
 the Greek Consul to see him on the lines, where he 
 will stop for the night. 
 
 I saw the Ulemas "^^ to-day, and lamented to them 
 the degeneracy of the F'aith, when Christians be- 
 come Mussulmans to save their lives, and Mussul- 
 
 Weart 
 
 mans become the followers of the False Prophet, to 
 save their property. They are going to preach 
 against this, but I fear much that when it is a ques- 
 tion between Allah and their goats, &c., they will be 
 inclined to look after their goats, as a rule. I am 
 afraid we are much the same, and would prefer 
 
 2*' " 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 Kurtoum, 
 May ith, 1877.— Ed.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 17 
 
 50,000 men at our backs, tlian any Scripture prom- 
 ises ; it is only when we are pushed into a corner, 
 and cannot get the 50,000 men, that we turn to the 
 promises — at least, that is so to a great extent with 
 me. There is no doubt that success makes men hard 
 on their fellows, while misfortune makes them soft. 
 (One has only to study the demeanour of a Cabinet 
 Minister, or a Colonel while in office, or out of of- 
 fice, to be convinced of this truth.) 
 
 I do not believe that fanaticism exists as it used 
 to do in the world, judging from what I have seen, 
 in this so-called fanatic land. It is far more a ques- 
 tion of property, and is more like communism under 
 the flag of religion, which seems to excite and to 
 give colour to acts which men would otherwise con- 
 demn.^^ 
 
 I am sure it is unknown to the generality of our 
 missionaries in Muslim countries, that in the Koran 
 no imputation of sin is made on our Lord, neither is 
 it hinted that He had need of pardon, and, further, 
 no Muslim can deny that the Father of our Lord 
 was God {vide Chapter HI. of Koran, " the Family 
 of Tour an "), and that He was incarnated by a mir- 
 acle. Our bishops content themselves with its being 
 a false religion, but it is a false religion professed 
 by millions on millions of our fellow creatures. The 
 Muslims do not say Mahomet was without sin, the 
 Koran often acknowledges that he erred, but no 
 
 21 "If fighting occurs, it is the Soudanese conservative of their prop- 
 erty fighting the Soudanese communists, who desire to rob tlieni." — 
 Extract from General Gordon's Memorandum received by Sir E, Bar- 
 ing, February ith, 1884. — Egypt, No. 12 — Ed. 
 2
 
 18 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 Muslim will say " Jesus sinned^ As far as self- 
 sacrifice of the body, tliey are far above Roman 
 Catholics, and consequently above Protestants. It 
 is positive trouble when one calls one's servant to be 
 continually told he is at his prayers, and one cannot 
 think that this is an excuse, for it can be no pleasure 
 to be in a constrained position for a considerable 
 time, unless one had some faith in those prayers. 
 The God of the Muslims is our God. And they do 
 not believe that Mahomet exercises any mediatorial 
 office for them. They believe they will stand and 
 fall by their own deeds : in fact they are as much 
 under the law as the Jews. 
 
 During our blockade, we have often discussed the 
 question of being frightened, which, in the world's 
 view, a man should never be. For my part I am 
 always frightened, and very much so. I fear the 
 future of all engagements.^^ It is not the fear of 
 death, that is past, thank God ; but I fear defeat, 
 and its consequences. I do not believe a bit in the 
 cahn, unmoved man. I think it is only that he does 
 not show it outwardly. Thence I conclude no com- 
 mander of forces ought to live closely in relation 
 with his subordinates, who watch him like lynxes, 
 for there is no contagion equal to that of fear. I 
 
 22 " 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 Enghshmen 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 Masiudi. 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 Toashh, July llth, 1877. — Ed.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 19 
 
 have been rendered furious, when, from anxiety, I 
 could not eat, I would find those at same table were 
 in like manner affected. 
 
 The Greek Consul came back from seeing the 
 Greek, who brought a letter ^s from Waled a Goun, 
 asking me to surrender. I answered as per mar- 
 gin,2* saying- 1 did not see it. The Greek's object 
 was to get us to surrender. He says : Lupton,^^ of 
 Bahr Gazelle, has come down to Shaka, with his men 
 to surrender, and that Emin Bey, of the Equator, is 
 said to be also captured. The Greek says, " Cuzzi 
 left yesterday for Berber. Slatin Bey ^ was in Kor- 
 dofan. The Mahdi was on his way here." Accord- 
 ing to the Greek Consul, this man came in to get 
 money for the Greek prisoners, and for little else. 
 I have left the Greek Consul to do what he likes 
 with regard to this. 
 
 There was an earthquake, lasting some seconds, 
 at 9 p. M. to-night ; like the other ones, it was from 
 south to north. 
 
 When one thinks of the enormous loss of life 
 which has taken place in the Soudan since 1880, 
 and the general upset of all government, one cannot 
 help feeling vicious against Sir Auckland Colvin, 
 Sir Edward Malet, and Sir Charles Dilke, for it is 
 on account of those three men, whose advice was 
 
 23 Appendix C. 
 
 24 Appendix C 1. 
 
 25 Lupton Bey was Governor of the Bahr el Gazelle. 
 
 2(' According to a telegram from M. Herbin toM. Barr^re, 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 Eu.
 
 20 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 taken by Her Majesty's Government, that all these 
 sorrows are due. They went in for the bondholders, 
 and treated as chimerical any who thought differ- 
 ently from them. ... by letting Sir Auckland Col- 
 vin and Sir Edward Malet stay in Egy[3t when he 
 went there, got let into their ways. Time has shown 
 the residt of their policy, and we shall hear of them 
 no more. In a minor degree the Times corre- 
 spondent at Cairo and Alexandria is a sinner, for 
 he backed them. We are an honest nation, but our 
 diplomatists are conies, and not officially honest. 
 
 Se^Jtemher 13. — Sent out notifications to all the 
 authorities in Egypt and the Soudan to search 
 Cuzzi closely, for I think he is an emissary of the 
 Mahdi ; this can be done under pretence of customs. 
 I am inclined to think that Cuzzi betrayed Berber 
 to the Arabs, for how else can the different treat- 
 ment he received from the Mahdi from all other 
 Europeans be accounted for ? 
 
 Five of our soldiers captured at Obeyed came in 
 to-day ; they report the Arabs not strong, and not 
 meditating immediate action (they brought their 
 arms with them) ; they say the Arabs knew of our 
 expedition to Berber. 
 
 The Ulemas sent a letter ^^ to the Mahdi to-day ; 
 these letters are interesting, for they show the views 
 of these people. • 
 
 The steamers are reported to have passed the 
 Shoboloha defile safely ; they ought to be at Berber 
 to-day. 
 
 27 Appendix D.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 21 
 
 Note that I do not call our enemy rebels, but 
 Arabs, for it is a vexed question whether we are not 
 rebels, seeing I hold the firman restoring Soudan to 
 its chiefs. 
 
 The Greek who came in yesterday told the Greek 
 Doctor here that the superior of the mission at 
 Obeyed alone has kept his faith ; his name is 
 " Luigi Bonorni ; " the other priests and nuns all 
 have become Muslims (so he says) ; the nuns have 
 nominally married Greeks to save themselves from 
 outrage. He says Cuzzi received two horses, a wife, 
 a slave, and f 60 ^^ from the Mahdi, with whom he 
 was on the closest terms of intimacy. He says Slatin 
 had 4000 ardebs^^ of dhoora and 1500 cows, and 
 plenty of ammunition when he surrendered ; he has 
 been given eight horses by the Mahdi (all this infor- 
 mation must be taken with reserve). The Greeks 
 here made up X38 for their compatriots in captivity, 
 and the Austrian Consul sent $100 to the mission at 
 Obeyed.^'' I gave the Greek $5, which I expect was 
 
 23 Dollars. 
 
 29 An ardeb is equal to five bushels. 
 
 ^^ The Names of Mission at Obeyed. 
 
 Pretres a Kordofan. 
 
 1. Don Luigi Bonorni, Superior. 
 
 2. Don Guiseppe Ohrwalder. 
 
 3. Don Paulo Nusignoli. 
 
 4. Fra Isodoro Locatelli. 
 
 5. Fra Guiseppe Regusto. 
 
 Sos.urs. 
 
 1. Teresa Grigolini, Sujjerioress. 
 
 2. Fortunata Corce. 
 
 3. Catarina Chincherini. 
 
 4. Cometta Corsi. 
 
 5. Elizabetta Venturini. 
 
 6. Maria Caprini.
 
 22 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 wasted, and I doubt if the Greek will not keep all 
 the money he has received. I grudge the $20 I gave 
 Cuzzi, for I expect he is a vile traitor. I expect he 
 gave the Mahdi all the ciphers ; fortunately he had 
 not the Foreign Office cipher, which Stewart has 
 carried off. Had I known this information about 
 Cuzzi I ought to have decapitated him, but it is as 
 well I left him to his fate. 
 
 If what the Greek says is true about the apostasy 
 of all but Don Luigi, what a spectacle ! for certainly 
 these people came to this country with more faith 
 than those that stay at home ; they could not expect 
 any comforts in it, but much self-denial. Some of 
 those nuns had as much as XIOOO a year, which 
 they left to come here. Of course the Greek's state- 
 ment is open to much doubt. 
 
 Slatin's name is Abdel Kadi ; Cuzzi 's name is 
 Mahomet Yusuf . Mahdi proposes I should put my- 
 self, on my surrender(?) under Abou Gugliz, who is 
 a notorious breaker of the dervish rules. I forgot 
 in my letter to remark on this. It appears each of 
 these men have a spiritual adviser mth them, who 
 acts as a sj)y as well. 
 
 Two more of the Obeyed soldiers escaped this 
 afternoon ; they say the Arabs meditate putting a 
 gain on the Blue Nile above Bourr^, and another in 
 front of south front of lines, with the idea of bom- 
 barding the town. 
 
 Psammitichus ^^ besieged Azotus or Ashdod for 
 twenty-nine years (according to Herodotus). What 
 a life for the people of Azotus ! One is tired enough 
 
 31 King of Egypt. — El).
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 23 
 
 of this, and we have only had six months of it. 
 Azotiis or Ashdod is a miserable little village be- 
 tween Jafa (which, by the way, is called after 
 Ja-pTiet^ the son of Noah) and Gaza. 
 
 The black soldiers who come in are generally old 
 acquaintances of mine, i. e. they know me, while their 
 black pug faces are all alike to me. I like the Chi- 
 nese best, then the pug-faced blacks, then the choco- 
 late Soudan people. I do not like the tallow-faced 
 fellaheen, though I feel sorry for them. 
 
 Ezekiel xxix. and xxx. are interesting, for they 
 show Egypt to be doomed to be the basest of king- 
 doms, the slave of kingdoms, never possessing a 
 ruler of its own race (Mahomet Ali was a Sandjak^^ 
 of Salonica, and an alien to this land). The judg- 
 ments on this land are on account of its cruelties in 
 respect to the slave-trade. Berber (which Colonel 
 Stewart ought to pass to-night) is 200 miles from 
 Merowe, where the cataracts cease, thence there is 
 open water to Dongola, 150 miles distant from Me- 
 rowe ; he ought there to find the telegraph open, 
 and so on the 20th of September he ought to be in 
 communication with Cairo and Europe. 
 
 One thing puzzles me is, if it was really deter- 
 mined to abandon the Soudan to its fate, why the 
 people of Dongola and of Senheit were not with- 
 drawn, when the determination was taken ; there 
 could be no possible object for keeping the peoples 
 in those places. I think if, instead of ' Minor Tac- 
 tics,' or books on art of war, we were to make our 
 young officers study ' Plutarch's Lives,' it would be 
 
 ^•■i The commander of a company. — Ki>.
 
 24 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 better ; there we see men (unsupported by any true 
 belief, pure pagans), making, as a matter of course, 
 their lives a sacrifice, but in our days it is the high- 
 est merit not to run away. I speak for myself when 
 I say I have been in dire anxiety, not for my own 
 skin, but because I hate to be beaten, and I hate to 
 see my schemes fail ; but that I have had to undergo 
 a tithe of what any nurse has to undergo, who is 
 attached to a querulous invalid, is absurd, and not 
 to be weighed together. When I emerge all are 
 complimentary ; when the invalid dies the question 
 is, what should be given to the nurse for her ser- 
 vices. We profess to be followers of our Lord, who, 
 from his birth, when He was hunted, till his death, 
 may be said to have had no sympathy or kindness 
 shown Him ; yet we (and I say myself especially) 
 cry out if we are placed in any position of suffering, 
 whereas it is our metier, if we are Christians, to un- 
 dergo such suffering. I have led the officers and 
 officials the lives of dogs while I have been up here ; 
 it is spurs in their flanks every day ; nothing can 
 obliterate this ill-treatment from my memory. I 
 may say that I have not given them a moment's 
 peace ; they are conies, but I ought to have been 
 more considerate. It is quite painful to see men 
 tremble so when they come and see me, that they 
 cannot hold the match to their cigarette. Yet I 
 have cut off no heads; I only killed two Pashas, 
 and I declare, had it not been for outside influ- 
 ences, those two Pashas would have been alive now ; 
 they were judicially murdered.^^ Happy, as far as 
 
 ^ " Surviving Soudanese declared that the two Pashas in command
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 25 
 
 we can see, are those men who swing in small arcs ; 
 unhappy are those who, seeking the field of adven- 
 ture, swing from the extremes of evil and good. 
 The neutral tint is the best for wear. 
 
 What a contradiction is life ! I hate Her Maj- 
 esty's Government for their leaving the Soudan after 
 having caused all its troubles; yet I believe our 
 Lord rules heaven and earth, so I ought to hate 
 Him, which I (sincerely) do not. 
 
 I hear Hansall, the Austrian Consul, is disposed 
 to go with his seven yemale attendants to the Arabs. 
 I hope he will do so. 
 
 Heaps of cattle come in every day, but very little 
 grain. Seyd Mahomet Osman has sent word to his 
 people to go to Kartoum for refuge ; this is pleasant 
 for us ! but it shows his confidence in our future, 
 
 charged back into their own square ; the soldiers, recognizing 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 ven- 
 geance, 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 treacheroush' 
 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 ac- 
 count of six months' arrears. Tiiey had also taken into the field with 
 them seventj' rounds of cannon ammunition, instead of eight, the usual 
 number, so that the rebels' guns might be well supplied for future at- 
 tacks 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 thej' had betrayed." — The Story of Chinese Gordon, 
 pp. 92-3, V. ii.— Ed.
 
 26 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 and it is a great honour to me, who (thank God) am 
 given faith to outspeak " I am a Christian," to have 
 obtained such confidence from a man, who would, in 
 the times of my glory, scarcely look at me. 
 
 One of his (Seyd Mahomet Osman's) men going 
 down to Shendy (where his sister, a very plucky 
 woman, lives) was taking down a pair of slippers for 
 her, and he brought them here ; I wrote my name 
 on the inside of each, and told him to tell the " Sitt," 
 or lady, when she put them on, she put her claw on 
 my head ; the man came back the other day, and 
 said the " Sitt " was delighted with the idea. 
 
 What a row the Pope will make about the nuns 
 marrying the Greeks ! It is the union of the Greek 
 and Latin churches. 
 
 September 14. — Yesterday evening the Arabs 
 fired four cannon shots towards lines on south front, 
 but they did not reach the fortifications. 
 
 Halfeyeh ^* reports the assembly of the Arabs, 
 with a view to attacking that place. A party has 
 gone out to see what truth there is in this report. 
 
 Four other men came in from the Arabs to-day ; 
 they had little to say, beyond that the Arabs meant 
 to maintain a blockade, and not to attack directly. 
 
 The Arabs killed four soldiers who tried to es- 
 cape, but those who came in say this will not stop 
 their coming. 
 
 A man I sent out to Waled Mocashee, who fousfht 
 with Waled a Goun (vide Stewart's Journal), was 
 caught with my letters by Arabs, and was on the eve 
 
 ^ t. e. Natives from Halfeyeh report. — Ed.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 27 
 
 of being hung, when my letter arrived, in which I 
 remonstrated with the Arabs for ill-treating my mes- 
 sengers, on which they pardoned him, and let him 
 go. This man says the Greek, who came into the 
 lines yesterday, was sent off to Kordofan on his re- 
 turn to the Arab camp. The Arabs woidd have 
 been quite justified in executing the man above al- 
 luded to, for he was a genuine spy ; my remonstrance 
 to them was with respect to their treatment of direct 
 messengers I sent to them ; there is considerable 
 doubt that even Waled Mocashee ever did fight with 
 Waled a Goun. 
 
 In my letter to Sheikh Abdel Kader, I proposed 
 to hun to come in and see me ; the Arab chiefs asked 
 him to go, but he would not; it is well known we 
 have refused to give in. 
 
 If it is possible to get rid of the bitter feelings ex- 
 isting between the two great sections of the Soudan 
 people,^^ it will go a great way to pacify the country ; 
 by degrees this may be done. 
 
 Meat has fallen from 10s. per lb. to 2.s. per lb. 
 
 The steamer Toicjihia, which went up the Blue 
 Nile to Giraffe, fell on the Arabs, and drove them 
 off from collecting grass and wood (one is thankful 
 for small mercies in these times). 
 
 The word " Islam " means the resigning or devot- 
 ing oneself entirely to God and his service, i. e. self- 
 sacrifice : consequently a true Christian is of the 
 Islam religion, as far as the name goes (this is Sale's 
 translation of the word Islam). 
 
 It is curious how quick the people forget their dis- 
 asters and losses ; it is only ten days ago that we 
 
 85 Those for, and those against the Mahdi. — Ed.
 
 28 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 lost in killed nearly one thousand men, yet no one 
 speaks of it now ; it takes about four or six days to 
 obliterate the bitterness of a disaster. 
 
 The old bugbear of the defection of the Shaggyeh 
 has sprung up again. Saleh Pasha, who is a pris- 
 oner with the Mahdi, has written to his brother to 
 say he and the Mahdi are coming, and that he is not 
 to join me. These sort of things, which are taken 
 up as gospel truth by those around me, are one of 
 the most disagreeable parts of my position ; those 
 who will one day declare that the Shaggyeh are 
 faithful will two days after urge one to take the 
 sharpest measures of repression against them, which 
 is, to my mind, just the way to push them into rebel- 
 lion, if they had any tendency that way (I mean by 
 rebellion, joining the Arabs). 
 
 Saleh Pasha's brother came in to-day to see me ; 
 he has heard that his brother is with the Mahdi at 
 Schatt, a place inland from Duem, on White Nile. 
 He seems to think this is authentic ; if so, we shall 
 have the Mahdi here ere long; he has been there 
 nine days. 
 
 The news of the near approach of the Mahdi has 
 not troubled me, for if he fails he is lost, and there 
 will be no necessity for an expedition to Kordofan ; 
 if he succeeds, he may, by his presence, prevent any 
 massacre. I have always felt we were doomed to 
 come face to face ere the matter was ended. 
 
 I toss up in my mind, whether, if the place is 
 taken, to blow up the palace and all in it, or else to 
 be taken, and, with God's help, to maintain the 
 faith, and if necessary to suffer for it (which is most
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 29 
 
 probable). The blowing up of the palace is the 
 simplest, while the other means long and. weary suf- 
 fering and humiliation of all sorts. I think I shall 
 elect for the last, not from fear of death, but because 
 the former, has more or less the taint of suicide, as it 
 can do no good to any one, and is, in a way, taking 
 things out of God's hands. 
 
 Schatt is twenty miles inland from Duem, which 
 is one hundred miles from here, on left bank of 
 White Nile. 
 
 The Greek who came in told the Greek Consul 
 that the Mahdi puts pepper under his nails, and 
 when he receives visitors then he touches his eyes 
 and weeps copiously ; that he eats a few grains of 
 dhoora openly, but in the intei-ior of the house he 
 has fine feeding and drinks alcoholic drinks. 
 
 The Greek says the Mahdi has lots of letters from 
 Cairo,^^ Stamboul, and India ; that his constant con- 
 versation is Kartoum, and his chance of its capture. 
 
 After this pepper business ! I think I shall drop 
 any more trouble in writing him letters, trying to 
 convince or persuade him to reasonable measures. 
 
 The Greek told the Greek Consul that the Mahdi 
 was perplexed to know what on earth I was doing 
 up here, as I had no part or lot in the Soudan. I 
 expect this question is more perplexing for others 
 than the Mahdi (myself included). I must confess 
 that the pepper business has sickened me ; I had 
 
 36 "I strongly suspect that he (the Mahdi) is a mere puppet put for- 
 ward by Elyas, Zubair's father-in-law, and the largest slave-owner ia 
 Obeyed, and that he has assumed a religious title to give colour to the 
 defence of the popular rights." — General Gordon's View as expresstd to 
 the Editor of "Pall Mall Gazette" on Jan. 8, 1884. — Kd.
 
 30 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 hitherto hoped I had to do with a regular fanatic, 
 who believed in his mission, but when one comes to 
 pepper in the finger nails, it is rather humiliating to 
 have to succumb to him, and somehow I have the 
 belief that I shall not have to do so. One cannot 
 help being amused at this pepper business. Those 
 who come in, for pardon, come in on their knees, 
 with a halter round their neck. The Mahdi rises, 
 having scratched his eyes and obtained a copious 
 flow of tears, and takes off the halter ! As the pro- 
 duction of tears is generally considered the proof of 
 sincerity, I would recommend the Mahdi' s recipe to 
 Cabinet Ministers, justifying some job. The nails 
 (so say the Greeks) must be long ! to contain the 
 pepper. 
 
 September 15. — Another escaped soldier came in 
 this morning ; reports that they are waiting orders 
 of the Mahdi, and do not mean to attack the lines. 
 Charity thinketh no evil. She was not in the Sou- 
 dan, for I declare, what with the tricks of the offi- 
 cials here, Charity would have had a bad time of it. 
 
 They say the Mahdi, when he goes out and sees 
 a woman carrying a jar of water, rushes at her and 
 begs to be allowed to carry the water. He rushes 
 up to the Sitt^'' even as I do, only I have not tried 
 the water-carrying. 
 
 It appears that the pepper business is of old date 
 in the Soudan, and not invented by the Mahdi. 
 
 The strength of eastern potentates is the seclusion 
 they live in ; they are sacred. Once they are known, 
 
 8T A woman. — Ed.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 31 
 
 they are done for, and perhaps the Mahdi coming 
 here will do for him. As long as he could put the 
 misdeeds of his subordinates on them, he was all 
 right, but when the people see that he does nothing 
 to rectify wrongs, his prestige ought to go. 
 
 This afternoon one of Seyd Mahomet Osman's 
 family came up from Shendy ; he rej)orts the Stew- 
 art expedition having passed Shendy,^^ that they 
 captured a large boat with grain and twenty-four 
 slaves, which was collecting taxes for the Arabs. He 
 reports as true the arrival of troops at Dongola; 
 that the Mudir of Dongola has quieted his province ; 
 that the Arab chief Mahomet el Khair, of Berber, 
 on hearing troops had come to Dongola, sent round 
 to collect the Arabs, promising them 820 a month ; 
 half responded to the call, and came to Berber and 
 asked for their pay. Mahomet el Khair sent them 
 to a house where he said the money was (the Gov- 
 ernment money, the celebrated £60,000 which was 
 given to me at Cairo !) When they entered the 
 house, no money was found, and Mahomet el Khair 
 explained it by saying the devil had caused it to 
 enter the earth! He then pretended that the Mahdi 
 had sent for him, and bolted. He seems to have 
 seen he could not hold out. If he goes to the Mahdi, 
 and does not account in some better way for the dis- 
 appearance of the money, I fear it will go hard with 
 him, for the Mahdi, although he allows certain free- 
 dom in miraculous events, is likely to be chary in 
 allowing such events among his followers, especially 
 when they affect his pocket. 
 
 3:* Shendy is ninety-five miles from Kartoum. — Ed.
 
 32 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 Another captured soldier escaped and came in. 
 He says the Ai-abs begin to notice these diminutions 
 of their men, and to be very strict. Nearly all the 
 soldiers knew me personally in Darfour. 
 
 As for the £60,000 which has been lost and stolen 
 by Soudan Arabs, it is only a tithe of what has been 
 stolen from the Soudan by the Egyptian Pashas, 
 that effete race, so I do not regret it. 
 
 We hope to finish another of those small steamers 
 in twenty days, like the Abbas (which went down to 
 Dongola with Stewart), and in another forty days 
 to complete another one. This will complete the 
 four steamers bought by Colonel Prout ^^ in 1878 ; 
 one of them, the 3Iahomet AH, is in the hands of the 
 Arabs, having been surrendered by Saleh Bey. 
 
 I should not be surprised if Berber surrendered 
 to Stewart's expedition. It was a miserable defence 
 it made, and the peoj)le were never very much in- 
 clined for the Mahdi. I cannot help thinking Cuzzi 
 was at the bottom of its surrender. 
 
 The TowfiMa steamer went up above Giraffe to- 
 day, fired on some Arabs and captured a cow. Four 
 of the captured soldiers of Obeyed escaped here ; 
 they had little to say, beyond that they had been 
 very miserable, and that the Arabs hoped we would 
 surrender. 
 
 I sincerely hope that Berber will surrender to Stew- 
 art's party ; it would be a great feather in his cap. 
 
 The majority of the soldiers who come in bring 
 their rifles. 
 
 39 Colonel Proiit was appointed by General Gordon to the command 
 of the Equatorial Provinces at the date of the latter' s resignation in the 
 autumn of 187G. — Ed.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 33 
 
 Haunting tlie palace are a lot of splendid hawks. 
 I often wonder whether they are destined to pick 
 my eyes, for I fear I was not the best of sons.^ 
 
 " Enough for the day is the evil thereof," but I 
 cannot help feeling appalled at what is to happen ; 
 even if we do manage to extricate Kartoum from its 
 troubles, we will have to quiet down all the coun- 
 tries around Sennaar and Kassala, and to withdraw 
 from the Bahr Gazelle, and Equator (for I do not 
 believe the Greek's story about those lands being 
 evacuated). Then comes the question of whether 
 the prisoners in Kordofan are to be left to their 
 fate. If Her Majesty's Government has entered 
 the field this is impossible, and if Her Majesty's 
 Government prevent Egypt extricating them, then 
 it is virtually Her Majesty's Government who leaves 
 them to their fate. Besides this, there is the terri- 
 ble outlay of money (which has to be met) for cur- 
 rent expenses. Also who is to govern the country. 
 All idea of evacuation en masse must be given up, 
 it is totally impossible, and the only solution is to 
 let the Turks come in, or else to leave me here, the 
 very thought of which makes me shudder, or to 
 send up Zubair Pasha ; ^^ in both cases a subsidy of 
 ,£100,000 is needed per annum. 
 
 September 16. — The man left in charge of the 
 
 40 *' 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. 
 
 41 Zubair is the correct spelling. It must not be forgotten that Zu- 
 bair is of very high famih^, being a direct descendant of the " Abbas- 
 sides." — Ed. 
 
 3
 
 34 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 Roman Catholic Mission's garden is furious with 
 the Austrian Consul for taking those $100 he sent 
 to the captives at Obeyed. He says that had he 
 known they had become Muslim he would have 
 sent them poison. The $100 came from the sale of 
 produce of the garden. Whether his anger is owing 
 to his bigotry, or to the having to give up the $100, 
 is a question. He says he cannot leave, for he is 
 in charge of the Bishop's robes. I expect he holds 
 on to the garden, whose dates alone sold for over 
 $1600. 
 
 A woman escaped from the Arabs this morning. 
 
 The notes to Sale's Koran, chapter xix., entitled 
 " Mary," are very interesting, as containing the Mus- 
 lim view of our Lord's conception. The sixteenth 
 chapter of Koran, entitled " the Bee," is considered 
 to allow Muslims to apostatise, if forced by violence 
 to do so (vide Sale's notes with regard to Moseila- 
 ma), though it is more meritorious not to do so. So 
 the Muslim here are well off in this respect, vis-a- 
 vis the Mahdi. 
 
 Faki Mustapha, who commanded on the left bank 
 of the White Nile, and who retired into the interior, 
 was expected to come over to us. He however has 
 written a letter ^^ in abusive terms to Cassim el 
 Mousse, in which he maintains that Mahomet Ach- 
 met is the Mahdi. Another soldier came in with 
 two rifles. The Toirjikia went up the Blue Nile, and 
 took on board two runaway slaves. Another man 
 came in with a letter from a man who is a prisoner 
 with the Arabs, which letter says positively that 
 
 ^ Appendix E.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 35 
 
 22,000 troops are at Dongola, and that the Mudir 
 of Dongola is at Merowe, and is pushing on his 
 men. 
 
 The soldier who brought in tico rifles accounts 
 for it by saying he stai'ted with his comjjanion to 
 come ; that his companion got frightened and dreaded 
 to delay, so they sat down and his companion went 
 to sleep ; so my friend thought it was time to be off, 
 and that it was as well to take his comrade's rifle 
 with him ! ! 
 
 Septemher 17. — I have the strongest suspicion 
 that these tales of troops at Dongola and Merow^ 
 are all gas-works, and that if you wanted to find 
 Her Majesty's forces you would have to go to Shep- 
 heard's Hotel at Cairo.*^ 
 
 The reports of the advance which we get from 
 Seyd Osman are never supported by any written 
 evidence from Dongola, and I expect they are 
 invented. Whether the resurrection of Stewart, 
 Power, and Herbin will have any effect remains to 
 be seen, but, ill-natured or not, it is my firm im- 
 pression that Her Majesty's Government will be 
 most disagreeably surprised by their emerging. 
 
 If Stewart gets down, he ought to be in communi- 
 cation with Europe on the 22nd of September, and 
 Power's telegrams ought to be in the Times 23rd 
 September. It makes me laugh to think of the 
 flutter in the dovecot which will follow. '•''That beast- 
 ly Soudan again I " (Africa has indeed been a 
 
 ^ Lord Wolseley and staff left Cairo for Wady Haifa ten days after 
 Gordon wrote those words. — Ed.
 
 36 GEXERAL GOBDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 " beast " to our ooimti'v. as one of Dickens's eliar- 
 ac'ters called it.) 
 
 Egerton's telegram ^ carefullT wi'itten in cipher 
 (and equally carefully without date, but which we 
 ascribe to Juue\ respecting the contracts to be en- 
 tered into "«"ith the Bedouin tribes to escort us down 
 ("and be sure to look after yourself"!^ might have 
 been as well wi'itteu in Arabic, it would have pro- 
 duced hilarir\- with the Mahdi. Two escaped sol- 
 diers came in with little news, they came wdth their 
 arms. 
 
 A man came in fi-om visiting the Sheikh el Obeyed. 
 He says that the Arabs lost very few in their attack 
 
 ** Lord Granville on May IT, 1SS4, instructed Mr. Egeilon to com- 
 mnnicate the following message from Her Majesty's Government to 
 General Gordon : — 
 
 " Having regard to the time -which has elapsed, Her Majesty's Gov- 
 ernment desire to add to their communication of the 23rd April as fol- 
 lows: As the original plan for the evacuation of the Soudan has been 
 dropped, and as aggressive oj>erations 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 Eg^-j)- 
 tians 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 discre- 
 tion. For example, he is at liberty to assign to Egyptian soldiers at 
 Kartoum smns 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 pre- 
 sume 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.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 37 
 
 on Mahomet Ali Pasha ; that they will wait till the 
 river falls ere they try and close in on Kartomn. 
 
 The righteous indignation expressed on the pub- 
 lication of that slave circular, which did nothing 
 more than say "that the treaty of 1877 (declaring 
 that the slaves would not be allowed to he sold after 
 1887) would not be put in force," is rather amusing 
 to think over (a pact v^lth the devii, as, I dare say, 
 some called it), when one thinks that the probability 
 is the whole country will be a nest of slave hunteis 
 and banditti. 
 
 They say the Mahdi means to take up his quarters 
 on the left bank of the NUe, so as to have his retreat 
 clear to Kordofan in case of accidents. 
 
 The Toxrfihia steamer went up the Blue Xile, and 
 found the Arabs near Giraffe, with three guns, 
 which fired five or sis rounds at the steamer, but 
 did no harm. 
 
 The pomp of Egerton's telegram, informing me 
 *' that Her Majesty's Government would (really !) 
 pay on delivery so much a head for all refugees de- 
 livered on Egyptian frontier, and would (^positively, 
 it is incredible !) reward tribes with whom I might 
 contract with, to escort them down." 
 
 It was too generous for one to believe ! Egerton's 
 chivalrous nature must have got the better of his 
 diplomatic training when he wrote it ! The clerks 
 in my divan, to whom I disclosed it, are full of ex- 
 clamations of wonder at this generositv ! Eg^erton 
 must consider that I was a c-omplete idiot to have 
 needed such a permission. I hope he will get pro- 
 moted, and will not be blamed for his overstraining 
 his instructions I
 
 38 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 Another soldier escaped with his wife ; he says : 
 The Arabs brought three guns down to cover their 
 foraging party, and have taken tliem back, which is 
 a relief to me. 
 
 I own to a great fear that Stewart's Journal will 
 not be published in extenso^ but will be doctored ; 
 if so, it is a great pity, for there are lots of nice 
 things in it. For really it is my journal as much as 
 Stewart's, though he wrote it. 
 
 When the escaped soldiers come in, they pay me 
 a visit, and are given a dollar, made to look at their 
 black pug faces in the mirrors, which are in the 
 palace, and asked their opinion of the reflections. 
 Some stare with wide open eyes, for they have never 
 seen themselves before. They generally approve of 
 the reflections, especially the black sluts, who think 
 themselves "Venuses," and shove their hands into 
 their mouths, which is a general sign among blacks 
 of great modesty, like the casting down of the eyes 
 with us. 
 
 Faki Mustapha's letter ^^ caused great commotion 
 among the Ulemas, for he says, " He will destroy 
 the Korans, and shut the mosques, and listen only to 
 the Mahdi." 
 
 There is a tone in Egerton's telegram ^^ which 
 grates on me ; it is, to /ne, as if he said, " You have 
 got into a mess, and although you do not deserve it, 
 I am willing to stretch a point in your favour, and 
 authorise you," &c. And in the previous part (the 
 author unknown) of the telegram, it is as if I was 
 
 ^5 Appendix E. 
 
 ^8 i. e. The telegram given on page 36. — Ed.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 39 
 
 enjoying this wretched fighting up here. I declare 
 it is Egerton and Co. who made the mess, and would 
 like to hang its fabrication and solution on me, not 
 that I mind the burthen, if they did not send such 
 telegrams (the Co. are Malet and Colvin).'*^ 
 
 I must say I do not love Diplomatists as a rule 
 (and I can fancy the turning up of noses at my ven- 
 turing to express an opinion of them), I mean in 
 their official attire, for, personally, the few I know 
 are most agreeable (and I specially except Alston, 
 the chief clerk, and Weller, the hall porter, who 
 has, of late years, become quite amiable) ; but tak- 
 ing them on their rostrums, with their satellites, 
 from their chiefs down to the smaller fry, no one can 
 imagine a more unsatisfactory lot of men to have 
 anything to do with. I have seen ...,.,.,..., 
 . . ., at different times, and when one left their au- 
 gust presences, one marvelled at the policy of Great 
 Britain being in such hands. Lord Hammond was 
 a Tartar, and one knew he was to be respected. 
 
 One would not so. much mind if they did not in- 
 oculate with their virus those who get employed by 
 them, but I have found Stokes of the Suez Canal, 
 Wilson of Anatolia, and many others (I may say 
 Stewart), all impregnated with their ideas of sun 
 worship and expediency. I own to having read 
 with pleasure the ' Queen's Messenger ' till Lord 
 Carrington stopped its publication, and Marvin's 
 work on Public Offices. 
 
 A man has come in who says Ste^rt and his 
 steamers have captured a large convoy of two hun- 
 
 ••T See ante, note on page 36. — Ed.
 
 40 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 dred camel-loads of stuff belonging to the Arabs. 
 They had passed Shendy, and had not been fired 
 upon. 
 The Mahdi will be furious. 
 
 I do not think the resources of this place are known. 
 We can turn out 50,000 rounds of Remington am- 
 munition a week, there are some 10,000 rounds of 
 mountain-gun ammunition in store, and if the INIahdi 
 takes Kartoum (which wdll entail the fall of every 
 town in Soudan) it will need a large force to stay 
 his propaganda. According to the Greek he medi- 
 tates an invasion of Egypt and Palestine, where 
 they are all ready to rise.^^ All the steamers on 
 the Nile, even below Assouan, are but crockery, if 
 struck by a mountain-gun shell ; consequently, if the 
 people rose at Esneh they could, by the Mahdi send- 
 ing down two guns, stop the river. The further 
 the Mahdi is off from the peoj^le who rise, the stron- 
 gs " The danger to be feared is not that the Mahdi will march north- 
 ward through Wad_v Haifa; 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 po])uiation 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 al- 
 ready 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 surren- 
 dered 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 aroanger, 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." —'Ely.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 41 
 
 ger he is ; here we are near him, and hear all about 
 his festivities and pepper business ; at Esneh this 
 would be lost in the mists of distance, still more so 
 at Cairo and in Palestine. What have we done in 
 Lower Egypt to make them like us ? Not a single 
 thing. We have foisted Europeans on them to the 
 extent of ,£450,000 a year ; we have not reduced 
 taxes, only improved the way of extorting those 
 taxes. The Mahdi says, " I will take one-tenth of 
 your produce, and I will rid you of the ' dogs ' " — 
 a most captivating programme ! If well led, and 
 once he takes Kartoum, the combined forces of 
 France and England will not be able to subdue him, 
 unless they go at his nest. From a j^^'of^ssional 
 military point of vieiv, and sjjeaking materially, I 
 wish I was the Mahdi, and I would laugh at all Eu- 
 rope. Query ( believing all the above as I do) — 
 would I be justified in coming to terms with Mahdi, 
 on the vmderstanding that he should let down all 
 refugees (on the Egerton contract arrangement), 
 while I should give over to him, unhurt, all warlike 
 material in Kartoum ? 
 
 Certainly, according to the letter, I would be jus- 
 tified in so doing ; and then what ! If what I feel 
 sure will happen, i. e. a rising in Egypt occurs, what 
 will my nation say ? (for Egerton will disappear by 
 some appointment in Chili) they will say it is my 
 fault ; but (Z>. F.) they shall not say so, for I will 
 not give up the place except with my life. It can- 
 not be too strongly imj)ressed on the public that it is 
 not the Mahdi's forces which are to be feared, but 
 the rising of the populations by his emissaries. I do
 
 42 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 not believe lie had four thousand men when he de- 
 feated Hicks. We have to think what would a gar- 
 rison of ten thousand men do in Cairo if the popula- 
 tion rose. 
 
 Had Zubair Pasha been sent up when I asked for 
 him, Berber would in all probability never have fal- 
 len, and one might have made a Soudan Govern- 
 ment in opposition to the Mahdi. We choose to re- 
 fuse his coming up because of his antecedents in re 
 slave trade ; granted that we had reason, yet as we 
 take no precautions as to the fixture of these lands 
 with respect to the slave trade, the above opposition 
 seems absurd. I will not send* up A. because he will 
 do this, but I will leave the country to B., who will 
 do exactly the same. 
 
 Sejitemher 18, — Men came to Halfeyeh from 
 Shendy, and report in further detail, the attack on 
 the market of Metemraa,^^ and capture of a lot of 
 things. They report also the arrival of troops at 
 Dongola, and their advance towards Berber (saying 
 that a reconnaissance was just pushed out to ascer- 
 tain if Kartoum had fallen or not). Three escaped 
 soldiers came in from Arabs ; they report that a lot 
 of troops are at Fashoda.^'^ I suppose those from 
 Equator or Bahr Gazelle ; it appears they have been 
 at Fashoda some little time, and have lots of cows, 
 &c. They did not like to come on, for they did not 
 know if Kartoum existed. 
 
 49 A town nearly opposite to Shendy, on the left bank of the Nile. — 
 
 50 An old hot-bed of slavery on the White Nile. — En.'
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 43 
 
 10 A. M. — A fight is going on between the Tow- 
 fikia steamer and five hundred of our men and the 
 Ai^abs, near Giraffe. The Arabs are retiring to- 
 wards the White Nile. I sent out the men to get 
 wood, &c. The Arabs did ditto, thence the col- 
 lision. 
 
 The three men who came in to-day, say the Arabs, 
 seeing the numbers who desert them, take the rifles 
 from the men at night, and give them out by day. 
 
 These men say the Mahdi knows of the advance 
 of the troops on Berber, and is in a way about it. 
 
 Yesterday, previous to hearing the news of to- 
 day, I had arranged for the departure of the Greek 
 Consul and subjects to the Equator, and then their 
 retreat, vid Zanzibar, but it will now be held in 
 abeyance, till we see the corroboration or not, of this 
 advance of troops to Berber. 
 
 The following meditations as to the future may 
 save a good deal of talking : therefore I write them. 
 Supposing it to be true, an expeditionary force 
 comes to Berber, composed of partly British troops. 
 What will result? The Mahdi's people will retire 
 still further into the interior, and some of his people 
 will come in. The chief of the expeditionary force 
 will say, " Now the road from Kartoum to Berber is 
 open, retire the garrison." He may say, " I will 
 give you three months to do it in." Well, we send 
 up steamers to the Equator and Bahr Gazelle, and 
 the garrison of Kartoum mai'ches on Sennaar and 
 we get down the refugees, and garrisons from those 
 places. Of course the moment it is known we are 
 going to evacuate, we drive all neutrals, and even
 
 44 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 friendlies of the country into the arms of the Mahcli, 
 for they will calculate " We are going to be left, and 
 consequently we must, for our own intex-ests, do 
 something for the Mahdi, in order to hedge our 
 position." This means that arrayed against our 
 evacuation will be the mass of those living in our 
 midst, and who are now with us. This is disagreea- 
 ble, but one cannot helj) seeing that it is quite imi^os- 
 sible to keep British troops after January. There- 
 fore I maintain we must install Zubair with a subsidy 
 or give over the coiuitry to the Sultan with a subsidy. 
 There is no option. If it is determined to do neither, 
 but to evacuate purely and simply, then when the 
 Sennaar garrison is brought down, give me the 
 steamers, and the black troops, who are willing to 
 go, and let me take them up to Equator, while the 
 expeditionary force goes down to Berber. I must 
 say I think this will be a- mistake, to leave the pris- 
 oners in Obeyed, and to let the Mahdi gain Kar- 
 toum. 
 
 As for Kassala, it must be relieved, by a separate 
 expedition from Massowah and Senheit. Supj)osing 
 the evacuation, and non-establishment of a regular 
 government (under Zubair or the Turks) is deter- 
 mined upon, the Mahdi would, on taking Kartoum, 
 think twice of moving on Egypt, if I was on his 
 rear at Equator, with all the steamers. 
 
 No one can feel more strongly than I do, that 
 January must see any British troops, who may come 
 up on their way down to Egypt, coute que coute. 
 This must be so, therefore I keep on, about giving 
 the country to Sultan, or installing Zubair, with 
 subsidies.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 45 
 
 In the serail, we have a Turkey cock and five 
 Turkey hens. They were all very tame, but having 
 put the Turkey cock's head under his wing, and 
 swung him into sleep, on one occasion, he is now 
 shy to come near me ; however, if one goes to his 
 wives and scratches them he is furious, and comes 
 up with his neck of all colours, but keeps out of 
 range. I am sorry to say that one of his wives, 
 having sat with patience for three weeks on eggs, 
 and brought forth two chicks, he killed them ; such 
 is the accusation lodged against him by the cook. 
 I think a Turkey cock, with every feather on end, 
 and all the colours of the rainbow on his neck, is 
 the picture of physical strength ; his eye is an eye of 
 fire, and there is no doubt of his being angry when 
 he sees his wives touched. I am one of those who 
 believe in the fore and future existence of what we 
 call animals. We have the history of man, shaped 
 in the image and likeness of God. He had breathed 
 into him the breath of God, and became alive, while 
 the waters and earth were told to bring forth ani- 
 mals that had life already (Gen. i. 20). "That 
 hath life." Take Psalm viii. " What is man, Thou 
 hast put all things under his feet." What a fall 
 there is in the next verse, " All sheep and oxen^'' 
 and turn to Hebrews ii. 8, where the same Psalm is 
 quoted, and where all things are subject to Him. 
 All principalities, powers, and every existence are 
 under Him. Why did the Psalmist go out of his 
 way to quote " sheep and oxen," unless they were 
 (so to say) the incarnation of those powers and 
 principalities? Man, however much he has fallen,
 
 46 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 has the grand pre-eminence over all creatures, he 
 was shaped (the word is the same as is used for a 
 potter making a clay vessel) in GocVs image and 
 likeness, and it is only God who could have so 
 shaped him, as it is only God who knew his own 
 likeness. Also when our Lord took our form (which 
 he still keeps) as man, in Him dwelt the fulness of 
 the Godhead, so that there is no doubt (as he dif- 
 fered only from us in being sinless) that man is 
 capable of containing the fulness of the Godhead. 
 Our belief is that as man our Lord governs heaven 
 and earth, not a sparrow falling without his per- 
 mission ; this being so, the capacity of man must be 
 such as to allow of his being so endowed as to rule 
 all events in heaven and earth, for it is distinctly 
 said our Lord was incarnated in a similar body to 
 ours, except without sin. Our Lord, who is now 
 man for ever and ever, is not likely to have taken a 
 form which contained any hindrance to his fulness 
 of his Godhead, therefore the form He took must 
 be perfect, and as our difference between Him and 
 us is our sin (which He has taken away), we, in 
 our turn, must be capable of realizing his fulness 
 of Godhead, and my belief is that our future happi- 
 ness is in being finite intelligences. We will keep 
 on to all eternity, grasping the infinite knowledge of 
 God which we are so formed as to be able to do, 
 but which will last for ever inasmuch as He is in- 
 finite. When one gets on these subjects, and has 
 to come down to this dreadful Soudan question, it 
 is depressing ; so also is the thought that misery here 
 is our lot, for if we will be with our Master, we must
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 47 
 
 be like Him, who from his birth to his death may- 
 be said to have been utterly miserable, as far as 
 things in this world are concerned: yet I kick at 
 the least obstacle to my will. 
 
 I certainly will, with all my heart and soul, do my 
 best if any of Her Majesty's forces come up here or 
 to Berber, to send them down before January, and 
 will willingly take all the onus of having done so. 
 Truly the people are not worth any great sacrifice, 
 and we are only bound to them because of our dubi- 
 ous conduct in Egypt, to which bond there is a limit, 
 which I fix in January. As for the Kordofan Euro- 
 peans, with one exception, they have denied their 
 Lord, and they deserve their fate in some measure. 
 
 September 19. — The ex -Khedive always said 
 that the great difficulty of governing the Soudan, 
 was the want of means of easy access, so he went 
 into a great scheme of railways ; he always said that 
 the Government was bad, because of the immunity 
 which Governors enjoyed, owing to his being imable 
 to control them. The Soudan, if once proper com- 
 munication was established, would not be difficult to 
 govern. The only mode of improving the access to 
 the Soudan, seeing the impoverished state of Egyp- 
 
 Kartoum 
 
 WMWM. 
 
 
 f 
 
 
 
 Y" 
 
 
 tian finances, and the mode to do so, without an out- 
 lay of more than X10,000, is by the Nile.
 
 48 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 Take this section to be the bed of Nile from Kar- 
 toum to Assouan, abed efg the Cataracts ; place 
 steamers on the open spaces between Cataracts, build 
 small forts at Cataracts, and a sure and certain road 
 is open for ever. 
 
 The same crews would do for these steamers, for 
 a weekly service would suffice. Camels should be 
 placed at the Cataracts for the transhipment of 
 goods from steamer to steamer. 
 
 After the first outlay, which certainly would not 
 be more than X10,000, for we have the steamers (I 
 think X5000 woidd be enough), the thing would pay 
 itself. Of course, it would be better to make loop 
 tramways worked by animals, than to keep camels 
 at the Catai-acts. I worked at this idea quietly for 
 the time ^^ I was in the Soudan before. Colonel Ma- 
 
 51 "Ismail, ths ex-Khedive, fully considered that to maintain his 
 hold of the Soudan, he must improve his communications witli 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-niile desert, 
 and determined to make a raihvaj' through the desert along the Nile 
 past the Cataracts from Wady Haifa to Hanneck, a distance of 180 
 miles. Contracts were made, and some £450,000 were spent on the line ; 
 but llnancial difRculties arose, and in 1877 it came to a standstill some 
 tifty or sixt}^ kilometres south of Wady Haifa. It was evident that on 
 this grand scale tl)e continuation of the line could not be hoped for, so I 
 studied the question. There was the line made from Wady Haifa 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 ovvn 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
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 49 
 
 son went down and examined tlie Cataracts between 
 Hannek and Wady Haifa, and he found one space 
 of open water forty miles in length. The Wady 
 Haifa railway might be produced some nine kilome- 
 tres, and brought down to river bank. The mass of 
 the misfortunes of the Soudan arose from this idea of 
 utilizing the Nile not having been carried out, but 
 one had to work at it quietly, for Caii-o was bent on 
 the Wady Haifa railway over which such sums had 
 been spent. I even took one steamer up from Wady 
 Haifa to Dongola (i. c. Mr. Baird, C. E., did so), to 
 begin the chain of steamers. 
 
 No church parade to speak of ; Arabs are now vis- 
 ible only on the south front, four or five miles dis- 
 tant. Arabs did not bring their gun down to the 
 Blue Nile to-day, and no escaped prisoners came in. 
 To-day is the Muslim Sabbath, and there is no office 
 work. (Not that there is much on other days ; how- 
 ever, one never sees any one from morning till 
 night.) 
 
 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 Avater-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 thing-, prevented this being carried 
 out, and the controllers would not take it up; so, after an expense of 
 nearly lialf-a-million, the railway exists with its end era Vair, with its 
 valuable stores perishing, while Kgypt proper has no more hold over the 
 Soudan than was had by Ancient Egypt." — See Colonel Gordon in 
 Central Africa, p. 315. — Ed. 
 4
 
 50 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 This has given me time to think over the outburst 
 of indignation in re the slave circular. We did not 
 see the papers, so can only guess what they said, but 
 expect that this diabolical fact caused upraised 
 hands in horror, " Was the world coming to an 
 end ? " What complete rubbish ! Was it not an- 
 nounced openly that the Soudan was going to be 
 abandoned, and consequently that the Soudanese 
 were to be allowed to follow their own devices 
 (which are decidedly slave - huntingly inclined) ? 
 What possible influence could my saying that that 
 feeble Treaty of 1877 was not going to be enforced, 
 have on people who were going to be abandoned? 
 The sole and only object of my mission was to get 
 out the garrisons and refugees without loss of life. 
 And in saying what I did I merely told the people 
 a platitude. 
 
 Baring deigned to say he would support me ! Of 
 course, that was an enormous assistance, to have his 
 approbation. I expect that my asking for Zubair 
 to come up was the last drop in the cuj), and hence- 
 forth I was a complete pariah, yet, in reality, if the 
 Soudan was to be abandoned, what difference could 
 it possibly make whether Zubair or the Mahdi car- 
 ried on slave-hunting, for, according to all accounts, 
 the Mahdi is most active in this direction (so says the 
 Greek). We had decided to abandon the Soudan, 
 and to leave it to its own devices ; the only obstacle 
 to this was those horrid garrisons ; once we could 
 get them out, then chaos might reign, for all we 
 cared. The Arabs, foolishly, would not let us re- 
 turn, consequently the present position. Zubair's
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 61 
 
 coming up, when I asked for him, would have, I 
 think, saved Berber, and greatly facilitated the get- 
 ting down of those garrisons, which we only care 
 for, because it is a ^^a/^^aS/e dishonour to abandon 
 them, " they ought to have surrendered at once, 
 troublesome people that they are, giving so much 
 bother ! " 
 
 Stewart will bear witness that my whole efforts 
 have been, and will be, directed to carry out my in- 
 structions, viz., the withdrawal of the garrisons and 
 refugees, and had it not been for the defeat of Ma- 
 homet Ali Pasha, I should have got out at least two- 
 thirds of those at Kartoum and Sennaar. I was en- 
 gaged in a certain work, i. e. to take down the gar- 
 risons, &c. It suited me altogether to accept this 
 work (when once it was decided on to abandon the 
 Soudan), which, to my idea, is preferable to letting 
 it be under those wretched effete Egyptian Pashas. 
 Her Majesty's Government agreed to send me. It 
 was a mutual affair, they owe me positively nothing, 
 and I owe them nothing. A Member of Parliament, 
 in one of our last received papers, asked "whether 
 officers were not suj^posed to go where they were or- 
 dered ? " I quite agree with his view, but it cannot 
 be said I was ordered to go. The subject was too 
 complex for any order. It was, " Will you go and 
 try ? " and my answer was, " Only too delighted." 
 As for all that may be said of our holding out, &c., 
 &c., it is all twaddle, for we had no option ; as for 
 all that may be said as to why I did not escape with 
 Stewart, it is simply because the people would not 
 have been such fools as to have let me go, so there
 
 52 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 is an end of those great-coats of self - sacrifice, &c. 
 Place before men the chance of success by holding 
 out, and the certainty of death, or miserable captiv- 
 ity, if they give in, there is not much credit in hold- 
 ing out. I must add in re. " the people not letting 
 me go," that even if they had been willing for me 
 to go, I would not have gone and left them in their 
 misery. I think I say truly, I have never asked for 
 a British expedition. I asked for two hundred men 
 to be sent to Berber at a time when, Graham having 
 beaten Osman Digma, one might have supposed 
 there was no risk for those two hundred men, and 
 I asked for Zubair.^^ 
 
 Baring offended Cuzzi, who revenged himself by 
 betraying Berber. Baring openly announced " that 
 no troops would come up to Berber," which was a 
 gratuitous act on his part. We may be sure Cuzzi 
 (who loves Baring) did not fail to tell this to the 
 Mahdi, yet Baring pitched into me for indiscretion 
 in asking openly for Zubair,''^ which I did on pur- 
 pose, in order to save Her Majesty's Government 
 the odium of such a step ! As for Zubair's refusing 
 to come up (as Cuzzi says he did), I put it down to 
 some palace intrigue, and consider (if it is true) he 
 was forced into saying so. If any expedition comes 
 up, I am grateful officially for the people's sake, but 
 
 s- "On the 18th Feb., the day General Gordon arrived at Kartoum, 
 he recommended in the strongest manner that Ziibair should bo sent up, 
 and gave liis reasons in detail." — Egypt, No. 12, 1884. Enclosure in 
 No. 114. 
 
 "On March 9, Sir Evelyn Baring recommended that Znbair should go 
 up, such a recommendation being in harmonj' with the policy of evacua- 
 tion." — Erpjpt, No. 12, 1884, in 115 # 222. —Ed. 
 
 53 This cannot be traced. — Ed.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 53 
 
 T consider that it is a right they possess, for, had 
 not Egypt been interfered with, somewhat more 
 than seven persons would have come up here, as re- 
 inforcements, between 21st November, 1883, when 
 Hicks' defeat was known, and 19th September, 1884. 
 / am grateful personally, because, as surely as the 
 chief of that expedition conies up, I will put on him 
 the burthen of the Government (doing what I can 
 "to help him). I am unable to forget the sufferings 
 of these peoples, owing to our want of decision hi re 
 Zubair, and no soft woi'ds will obliterate those suf- 
 ferings from my memory. It is not over praisewor- 
 thy if one holds out, when, if you do not, your throat 
 is cut. 
 
 I am deeply grateful to those who have prayed 
 for us. 
 
 Any expeditionary force that may come up comes 
 up for the honour of England, and England will 
 be grateful, and I can hang the yoke of Govern- 
 ment on some one else, for the solution of the 
 problem. 
 
 Any one reading the telegram ^^ 5th May, Suakin, 
 29th April, Massowah, and loithout date, Egerton 
 saying, " Her Majesty's Government does not enter- 
 tain your proposal to supply Turkish or other troops 
 in order to undertake military operations in Sou- 
 dan, and consequently if you stay at Kartoum you 
 should state your reasons," might imagine one was 
 luxuriating up here, whereas, I am sure, no one 
 wishes more to be out of it than myself ; the " rea- 
 sons " are those horridly plucky Arabs. 
 
 fi4 Egypt, 188-1, iVy,«. 201-56. See also Egypt, 188-4, Nos. 35-166.
 
 54 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 I own to having been very insubordinate to Her 
 Majesty's Government and its officials, but it is my 
 nature, and I cannot help it, I fear I have not even 
 tried to i^lay battledore and shuttlecock with them. 
 I know if / was chief 1 would never employ myself, 
 for I am incorrigible. To men like Dilke, who 
 weigh every word, I must be 2)e)^ect poison. I 
 wonder what the telegrams about Soudan have cost 
 Her Majesty's Government ? It has been truly a 
 horrid question. There is the Town El Obeyed 
 and the Sheikh El Obeyed ; there is the Haloman 
 of Cairo and the Haloman of Kartoum. Sanderson 
 must have a hard time of it. " The city moves 
 about ! " " Why, if Haloman is attacked, Cairo 
 must be in danger ! Send for Wolseley ! Kartoum 
 forces defeated by Sheikh el Obeyed ! Why, the 
 town must have moved ! Is not El Obeyed the 
 place Hicks went to take ? Most extraordinary ! 
 Send for Wolseley!" 
 
 " Eureka, I have found it out ; there is a man 
 called El Obeyed and a toivii called El Obeyed. 
 When a movement occurs, it is the man, not the 
 toxon, which has moved ! " After this I shall hesi- 
 tate to ask for any appointment from Foreign Of- 
 fice, and I shall get no more crisp bank-notes, as 
 I used to do from old Cunnynghame in 1858-59 
 (when Alston was a boy, so to say), in those dingy 
 rooms in Downing Street, now pulled down. One 
 can fancy them saying " That brute of a Mahdi ! " 
 " That horrid resurrection of Stewart, Power, and 
 Herbin at Dongola I " It will destroy all the xoell 
 earned repose of Her Majesty's Government. As
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 55 
 
 Sii' Wilfrid Lawson (he is an irregular') said, " One 
 day you will groan when you hear of Tel el Kebir." 
 I think of all the pusillanimous businesses which 
 happened in 1882, the flight of the Europeans from 
 Alexandria before these wretched fallaheen troops 
 was the worst. Why, had they barricaded their 
 streets, they would have held Alexandria against 
 50,000 of these poor things (like Abbot did his 
 hotel and the Egyptian bank their offices). A 
 more contemptible soldier than the Egyptian never 
 existed. Here we never count on them ; they are 
 held in supreme contempt, poor creatures. Tliey 
 never go out to fight ; it would be perfectly iniqui- 
 tous to make them. We tried it once, and they 
 refused point blank to leave the steamers. W^e are 
 keeping them in cotton wool to send down to Baring 
 (if he has weathered the storm ?) 
 
 " Blessed is the man who does not sit in the seat 
 of the scornful " (Ps. i. 1). I own it is not right to 
 scoff at one's superiors, but I do not do it in malice, 
 and I hope those who are remarked upon will not 
 be offended. Life is a very leaden business, and if 
 any one can lighten it, so much the better. Because 
 I criticise Baring, Egerton, and the Foreign Office, 
 it is not that I think I am their superior, but be- 
 cause I would like them to see how others, outside 
 themselves, view things. Because I may differ with 
 them it is no reason why they may not be right, and 
 acting uprightly, and I may be utterly wrong. I 
 am sure the " Siren " Malet is conscientiously sure 
 all he did in Egypt was right ; if visited in Brussels 
 one will see, at a glance, he is plainly content.
 
 66 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 One of the most amusinof tliino:s which struck me 
 in Palestine, exemplifying how little worth the 
 world's praise is, was an article in the Times de- 
 scribing the making of a D. C. L. at Oxford. Sir 
 Charles Wilson received this honour. The Times^ 
 in remarking on the affair, mixed Wilson, R. E., up 
 with Rivers Wilson of National Debt Office, and 
 spoke of his " financial capacities '' in Egypt. Of 
 course Wilson, R. E., coidd not help thinking he 
 had been robbing Wilson of National Debt Office of 
 his renown, while Rivers Wilson felt hurt at being 
 robbed of it. Two people were accordingly put 
 out ; while the innocent writer in the Times, when 
 penning his article, was thinking hov/ he could meet 
 his rent (this is pure supposition). We may be 
 quite certain, that Jones cares more for where he is 
 going to dine, or what he has got for dinner, than 
 he does for what Smith has done, so we need not 
 fret ourselves for what the world says. The article 
 in the Times was a Mordecai to Wilson, R. E., and 
 quite destroyed the pleasure of receiving D. C. L. ; 
 yet the writer in the Times did all he could to exalt 
 Wilson, R. E. I think the press is first-rate, to ven- 
 tilate articles ; but when "we" come out, and praise 
 or blame, I do not care a bit for " we " : for I have 
 seen the " We's," and found them much as myself. 
 I would never muzzle the press or its correspondents ; 
 they are most useful, and one cannot be too grateful 
 to them (I own'%his more than any one), but I cer- 
 tainly think, that their province does not extend to 
 praising or blaming a man, for by praising, or blam- 
 ing, an assumption is made of superiority, for the
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. bl 
 
 greater only can do that, to the inferior ; and no 
 newspaper can arrogate that its correspondent is su- 
 perior to the General (though I declare I think, 
 sometimes, it may be the case). 
 
 Take for instance our defeat here, on the 16th 
 March, which is put down to the treachery of the 
 Pashas. Ten thousand articles in the Times will 
 not make me think that their execution was not a 
 judicial murder, yet probably the Times may say, I 
 was justified : it alters not the affair with me, it is 
 simply my intelligence against that of their corre- 
 spondent ; if the Times saw this in print, it would 
 say, " Why, then, did you act as you did ? " to which 
 I fear I have no answer. 
 
 September 20. — Six escaped soldiers came in 
 this morning with their arms ; they say that the oth- 
 ers meditate a genei\al rush for the lines to escape, 
 that the Arabs are quite astonished at our being 
 so quiet, and believe a mine is being driven under 
 them. The men who came to-day said the Mahdi is 
 still at Rahad ! not at Schatt, One of these men 
 was a perfect peacock with the patches on his der- 
 vish dress. Yesterday evening, while a gale was 
 blowing, Waled a Goun took out the Krupp, mean- 
 ing to bombard us, but he then took it back on 
 Abou Gugliz' remonstrances, who said that we had 
 stayed quiet for months, that he had made splendid 
 fortresses, and that on one day we had burst on him, 
 and broken him up. 
 
 A curious letter ^^ was found written, just before 
 
 65 Appendix F.
 
 58 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 Hicks' forces perished, by a high officer ; it is in 
 the terms, '' Stranger, go tell the Lacedemonians we 
 lie here, in obedience to their laws." 
 
 I have in a previous page abused the Egyptian 
 soldier, but it is not just, for what possible interest 
 can they take in warlike operations in the Soudan ? 
 The English beat them in Egypt, and then sent 
 them up here to be massacred in detail. One may 
 say the massacred ten thousand of Hicks' army, at 
 any rate, showed they could die, if they could not 
 fight. 
 
 When we got hemmed in, a lot of slaves belong- 
 ing to masters in Kartoum got cut off. They have 
 been coming in in driblets ever since, and we made 
 the men soldiers, and the women were freed; this 
 of course bore hard on their masters, who thus lost 
 their slaves, so I have determined to compensate 
 these masters, at rate of £1 per man, £5 per woman, 
 being an inferior article. Certainly I w^ould make 
 ' Plutarch's Lives ' a handbook for our 3"oung offi- 
 cers ; it is worth any nlimbers of ' Arts of War ' or 
 ' Minor Tactics.' 
 
 Some accounts in the Gazette, describing reasons 
 for giving the Victoria Cross, are really astounding, 
 sucli as a man who, with another, was sent out on 
 a reconnaissance, this other was wounded, and his 
 companion waited for him, and took him on his 
 horse, saving his life ! What would we have said, 
 had he left his companion? Lots of these cases pass 
 by unheeded, wdiich, if read by ' Plutarch's Lives,' 
 would be simply a man's duty. A soldier is bound 
 entirely to his work as a soldier, he can never do
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 69 
 
 more tliaii his duty, and his metier is the Field ; there- 
 fore he deserves nothing, for he is already paid for 
 that metiei\ and not for garrison or home life. The 
 original idea of the Victoria Cross was to give the 
 subaltern officers, non-commissioned officers, and men 
 a decoration, which would take the place of the Bath, 
 to ranks below that of Major, which by the statutes 
 of the Bath could not be done ; then came the mis- 
 take to give the Victoria Cross for deeds of eclat, and 
 so now it is. I like that old Iron Duke with his 
 fearful temper : he told a friend of my father, who 
 was bewailing his long and meritorious ser\ace, 
 
 " That he ought to be gla,d the country had 
 
 kept him so long." I v/ish Wolseley would take up 
 this line, and get some quixotic chivalry into us : 
 that it is possible I feel sure, for we are the same 
 men as before. In three campaigns, out of four of 
 late years, no officer or soldier has gone through 
 such privations or dangers, as are gone through by 
 our naval officers and sailors in gunboats, in various 
 parts of the world, yet these latter v/ould be scoffed 
 at if they pleaded these privations, in order to get 
 rev/ard. A man defends a post, if he loses it his 
 throat is cut ; why give' him a Victoria Cross? and 
 if given, why not give it to all who were with him ? 
 they equally with him defended their throats. The 
 men I should like to see cross-questioned on the 
 country they are in are our generals, whose whole 
 time is taken up in their offices with courts-martial, 
 &c., &c., an occasional day being devoted to moving 
 men about in formations, which are never put into 
 execution in the Field. The metier of a General
 
 60 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 is the Field, not the office ; it is as if all their time 
 is to be taken up with the horse in the stable, not in 
 the country, whereas the latter is the most impor- 
 tant. I should like to see Wolseley trot out the gen- 
 erals over their districts ; ask them the routes, their 
 proposed distribution of men in case of attack, and 
 water su2:)j3ly to forts. I do not think it is generally 
 known that if a gunboat cut the sea-wall near Cool- 
 ing on Thames, the Cliffe and Shornemead forts 
 are cut off from main land, and that the Thames 
 would come up to high lands, and be ten miles wide. 
 There is one man only that I know who has the gift 
 of questioning, because he knows every part of the 
 coast. Sir W. Jervois : and if Wolseley has not the 
 time, he would do schoolmaster. Of course, this is 
 all fearful treason and presumption. 
 
 Spy in Halfeyeh states Stewart's steamers have 
 recaptured the two steamers I had lost at Berber, 
 and had no fighting to speak of ; that the English 
 troops are advancing on Ambukol, ^^ half way be- 
 tween Debbeh and Merow^, and had defeated the 
 Arabs. 
 
 A young black soldier has just escaped from the 
 Arabs ; he was pursued by three horsemen and some 
 footmen, and he kept blazing away at them till he 
 got into the lines. He says he killed two of his 
 pursuers. 
 
 I wrote a letter ^" to Abdel Kader, the old sheikh 
 on South Front, and sent him a packet of soap with 
 the letter, as he had lamented to one of our men, 
 
 ^ About 180 miles from Kaitoum. — Ed. 
 '' Appendix U.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 61 
 
 who had escaped, that he had none. I daresay he 
 will think the packet is a mine ! 
 
 I have ordered the sale of five hundred ardebs of 
 Government dhoora : no one family to purchase more 
 than two ardebs. 
 
 The capture of the steamers at Berber cuts off the 
 Arabs of Berber from those on other side. 
 
 With the young soldier who escaped were three 
 others, but their hearts failed them, and they were 
 recaptured. I fear they will suffer, but no physical 
 suffering will change the heart, hence I do not be- 
 lieve in purgatory. 
 
 The Towjikia steamer went up to Gii-affe, and as 
 the Arabs had a sort of sneaking affection for the 
 place, we put down twenty self-exploding mines, to 
 deter them from going there. The worst of it is, 
 our domestic matches have run out, and we cannot 
 make any substitute, so we have to fall back on the 
 powder -hose, connecting groups of ten. I think 
 good wire entanglements, with mines, will defend 
 any place, if one has anything like moderate troops 
 behind the parapet. Wire entanglement ought to 
 be twenty yards in depth, mixed with it the earth 
 mines. No field artillery will neutralize their effects, 
 and only a continuous bombardment of days would 
 destroy them. 
 
 A man has come in from Shendy, who corrobo- 
 rates the advance of the expeditionary force and the 
 defeat of the Arabs. Another came in, who says 
 the Abbas passed down safely, and that the steam- 
 ers Mansowrah and Saphia are on their return, but 
 says nothing of capture of the two steamers at Ber-
 
 62 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 Anotlier escaped soldier came in. 
 
 The Arabs took the man with the flag o£ truce (I 
 sent out with letter to Abdel Kader, the old sheikh) 
 into their lines ; he took a lette?' from the Ulemas to 
 the jMahdi. 
 
 Tolerably good information says that the Mahdi 
 has written to the tribes about here, telling them to 
 submit to our authority, and to fight no more, to pay 
 taxes, &c. ; that if he is the Mahdi, then Turks and 
 all men will eventually acknowledge him, without 
 any more fighting, &c. We have this from two 
 separate sources. I think he feels that to fail here 
 would lead to his fall, and so he will come to terms 
 in order to keep Kordofan, as I originally proposed 
 to him. 
 
 Faki Mustapha (the man who commanded Arabs 
 on left bank), has sent in to say he never wrote the 
 impertinent letter E,^ to which his seal was not. 
 
 The doctor took a stone as big as a swan's-egg 
 from a man to-day. 
 
 There is nothing like a civil war to show what 
 skunks men are. One of my greatest worries are 
 the Shaggyeh, who are continually feathering to- 
 wards me, or towards the Mahdi. I expect both 
 sides despise them equally. According to history, 
 the same thing went on during the reign of James II. 
 When William of Orange landed, Queen Anne's hus- 
 band the Prince of Denmark did not show well in 
 the affair, and I expect that the Empress Eugenie 
 could say a good deal for " Rats," during her time. 
 I must say I cordially hate them, and if I had my 
 
 °^ Appendix E.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 63 
 
 way, I would smite the Sliaggyeh, but policy says 
 " give them rope." I have told them distinctly that 
 I know it is self interest alone which rules them, 
 which however is a platitude, for it governs most of 
 us. 
 
 September 21. — Six more escaped soldiers came 
 in with their rifles to-day. They say the Arabs are 
 furious at losing their Peacock dervish (who was 
 one of their officers) yesterday, and also at the con- 
 stant desertions, and have written to the Mahdi to 
 ask whether they are to kill these blacks or not. 
 The Mahdi hired one thousand camels at i3 a head, 
 to bring dhoora to the Arab camp, but the people 
 who engaged to do this bolted with the money and 
 the camels into the interior. The Mahdi is at 
 Sehatt.59 
 
 Messengers have arrived at Omdurman, saying 
 that mixed force of Bi*itish and Indian troops at 
 Debbeh, on the Nile, north of Dongola, and that 
 they had defeated a party of dervishes. 
 
 The Greek, who came in a few days ago from the 
 Arabs, said the Mahdi had given Cuzzi an ointment 
 to rub on his body, which would keep him in odour 
 of sanctity! 
 
 Halfeyeh reports a foraging party of Arabs be- 
 tween Halfeyeh and Shoboloha.^^ 
 
 The three messengers from Dongola came in with 
 two cipher telegrams from Egerton of same import, 
 not legible, for want of cipher, which Stewart car- 
 ried off. Some photograj)h letters which I could 
 
 59 Between forty and fifty miles west of Duem. — Ed. 
 
 60 A pass about midway between Shendy and Halfeyeh. — Ed.
 
 64 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 only partially make out, and notes from Floyer ^^ 
 and Kifcchener,*"^ saying forces were coming up. 
 Letter from Mudir Dongola saying he had beaten 
 the Arabs four times before the British advance! 
 I have made him Pasha, and asked for the Order 
 of St. Michael and St. George for him from the 
 Khedive. I have ordered three guns to be fired 
 from all the guns at 4 P. M. as a salute, and to warn 
 
 Gl ^'London, I2th. — Debates on Egypt, House of Commons, subject 
 Egypt. Gladstone declined communicate Northbrook's instructions. 
 Declared Anglo-French accord dead letter. 
 
 " 13//j. — Foreigners — 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. 
 
 "13iVi. — Parliament closed till 15th September. Message hopes mis- 
 sion Northbrook suggest useful counsels. England will continue to fulfil 
 public duties imposed upon her b_v events in Egypt. 
 
 " 17tk Au(just. — The 88th, 4Gth, and 5Cth regiments, with expedition 
 of 19th Hussars and corps of Blounted Infantry, go to Haifa. 
 
 ^^ London, Idlh. — General Erie commands expedition Haifa. Buller 
 chief of staff." 
 
 "Dear Genekal Gordon, 
 
 "I send you the above ns the last public news we have heard. 
 I have been appointnl 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 ofhce, and the Sirdar will not let us ad- 
 vance. I am ordered back to Haifa, and am leaving by boat this morn- 
 ing. With kind regards to Coloiul Stewart, 
 
 " Yours sincere!}-, E. A. Floyeu. 
 
 " Debba, 22d August, 188-i." 
 
 C2 " 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 waj-; he 
 has abandoned Parfur, and has no reinforcements to send to Kartoum 
 and Sennaar, which are asked for. 
 
 " Yours always, H. H. Kitchener."
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 65 
 
 the Arabs something is up. I shall send down 
 spies to-morrow. I gave the three <£50, and gave 
 them each <£10, with promise they will be paid <£10 
 more when they get to Dongola. They say they 
 had nothing given them on starting ! which is cu- 
 rious if true. 
 
 Three more escaped soldiers came in this after- 
 noon. They say the Arabs have disarmed all the 
 black troops, and have told them to go where they 
 liked, so I expect we will have a lot in to-morrow. 
 
 We fired a salute of three rounds from each gun 
 on lines, to let the Arabs know of the advance ex- 
 peditionary force. The men who came in say the 
 Arabs were fully expecting an attack, and were in a 
 great way. 
 
 I send down to-morrow a telegram to Cairo, which 
 will settle the business as far as I am concerned. It 
 is thus couched : " If you remove me from being 
 Governor-General then all resjsonsibility is off me ; 
 but if you keep me as Governor-General then I will, 
 at the cost of my commission in Her Majesty's Ser- 
 vice, see all refugees out of this country." 
 
 The Arabs in reply to this salute of three guns 
 fired nine shots against the lines to-night, two of 
 which passed over our lines — a sort of revenge for 
 our salute. 
 
 The man who went up with the letter came back 
 with two letters ^^ and the soap, which loas refused. 
 
 Our salute, which was replied to by the Arabs by 
 shotted guns, made us fire shotted guns in reply ; 
 and the " man who came in with the soap " says our 
 
 03 Appendices K and L. 
 »
 
 66 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 guns killed twenty men, which I fear is an exagger- 
 ation. Tliis man says the Arabs are in a bad state, 
 with little food. They threatened to kill him. I 
 sent out letter ^^ in answer. 
 
 September 22. — One escaped slave came in to-day. 
 The Berber steamers are said to be coming up river. 
 Sent out two hundred men from Halfeyeh to drive 
 off foraging parties of Arabs investing roads from 
 that place to Shoboloha. 
 
 The Sapkia and Mansoii^rah have returned from 
 Berber. They passed the Abbas, that is about all, 
 and I am grateful for that. They carried out my 
 orders. Colonel Stewart's letter reports in detail. 
 The steamers lost three killed, and had four wound- 
 ed. They saw the two captured steamers under 
 the bank. 
 
 N. B- — When self-acting mines are placed, it is 
 as well to connect them with twine to facilitate tak- 
 ing them up. 
 
 September 23. — The men who went out to drive 
 back the marauders between Halfeyeh and Shobo- 
 loha have come back. They drove back the Arabs 
 and captured a lot of things. 
 
 During the blockade here, viz., from say March 
 12tli till to-day Sei^tember 22nd we have expended — 
 
 3,240,770 Remington • • • ) 
 
 1,570 Kriipp gun . . . > cartridges. 
 9,442 Mountain gun . . ) 
 
 Of the Remington cartridges perhaps 240,000 may 
 
 64 Appendix M.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 67 
 
 have been captured by enemy, so that we fired 
 3,000,000 away; and I expect the Arabs lost per- 
 haps 1000 in all. Each Arab killed needed 3000 
 cartridges. We have left here — 
 
 2,242,000 Remington • • • ) 
 
 660 Krupp gun . . . r cartridges. 
 8,490 Mountain gun . . ) 
 
 and we turn out 50,000 Eemington cartridges a 
 week. 
 
 Fifty Arab horsemen came down on our foraging 
 party who were outside Bourr6, but the steamer 
 drove them back. 
 
 No escaped soldiers came in to-day. I expect they 
 are all close prisoners. 
 
 There are fifty nuggars at Berber with the Arabs. 
 
 I am sure I should like that fellow Egerton. There 
 is a light-hearted jocularity about his communica- 
 tions, and I should think the cares of life sat easily 
 on him. Notice the slip in margin. He wishes to 
 know exactly '' day, hour, and minute " that he 
 (Gordon) expects to be in " difficulties as to provi- 
 sions and ammunition." ^^ 
 
 65 "Dear General Gordon, 
 
 "5Ir. Egerton has asked me to send you the following:: — 
 August 30th. Tell Gordon steamers are being passed over second Cata- 
 racts, and that we wish to be informed through Dongola exactly when 
 he expects to be in difficulties as to provisions and ammunition." Mes- 
 sage ends, "Lord Wolseley is coming out to command. The SSth Regi- 
 ment is now being sent from Haifa to Dongola. Sir E. Wood is at 
 Haifa. Generals Earle, Dormer, Bnller, and Fremantle are coming up 
 Nile with troops. 1 think an e.xpedition will be sent across from here lo 
 Kartoum, while another goes with steamer to Berber. A few words 
 about what j'ou wish done would be very acceptable. 
 
 "Yours, H. H. Kitchener, R. E. 
 
 " Debbeh, August 31st."
 
 68 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 Now I really think if Egerton was to turn over 
 the "archives" (a delicious word) of his office, he 
 would see we had been in difficulties for provisions 
 for some months. It is as if a man on the bank, 
 having seen his friend in river already bobbed down 
 two or three times, hails, " I say, old fellow, let us 
 know when we are to throw you the life buoy ; I 
 know you have bobbed down two or three times, 
 but it is a pity to throw you the life buoy until you 
 really are in extremis, and I want to know exactly^ 
 for I am a man brought up in a school of exactitude, 
 though I did forget (?) to date my June telegram 
 about that Bedouin escort contract.^^ 
 
 Turn to page 54, " Send for Wolseley," &c. I see 
 that they did send for him just a month before; 
 "nasty moving cities, and very nasty Soudan." 
 
 Egerton's cipher telegram,'^'^ which I cannot deci- 
 pher through Stewart having taken the book, is 
 short, but I feel sure is weighty, and I regret deeply 
 I cannot get at its contents, which I think would 
 afford matter for amusing comment. 
 
 C6 " Cairo, August 20th, 10.30 p. m. 
 
 " To General Gordon, 
 
 " 445737 — 905-309 — 185115 — 417291 — 55267G — 792996 — 271381 
 — 511 90G — 6893G3 — 945242 — 220739 — G48255 — 102037 — G20054 — 
 535222 — G72318 — 277535 — 134971 — 4G7430 — 203151 — 8049G0 — 
 483289 — G81510." 
 
 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. ■ Tiie last news here is (he 35th Regiment 
 
 IP ' " 
 
 has been ordered to advance from Haifa to Dongola at once. General 
 
 Earle commands expedition, Bnller C. of S., Dormer and Fremantle 
 
 brigades. All coming up. Lord Wolsele}' leaves London directly to 
 
 take over supreme command. All well here. Jliidir working well. 
 
 No danger. Sir E. Wood is at Haifa sending on troops. 
 
 " H. H. Kitchener. 
 " Debbeh, 29th August, 1884."
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 69 
 
 The Mudir of Dongola sent me a telegram which 
 is on other side.*''' He tells me of the extreme 
 anxietude which pervaded Cairo (when they heard 
 Berber had fallen, and it was rumoured Kartoum 
 had ditto), for the retirement of the Dongola people. 
 "Throw things into the river," &c., "but come 
 away," " we are very fond of yon," " useless to stay," 
 &c., &c. The Mudir laughs over it, I think, and 
 saw the kind instruction, " raise barrier on barrier 
 between Kartoum and its sister beleaguered cities 
 and Cairo ; let us hear the last of these moving cities 
 and Halomans." What awful disgust at this resur- 
 rection! I made the Mudir a Pasha; he was an old 
 officer of mine. When I came up I ordered him 
 down, as my oixlers were to organize country toith 
 Soudanese employSs, not that he was bad. Cairo 
 (how they must wring their hands over it now) re- 
 monstrated and asked me to leave him, which I did, 
 and he saved Dongola, and indirectly Kartoum, for 
 had I put a native in he would have gone over to 
 the Mahdi, like Hussein Pasha Khalifa did, and 
 then I really think that the tomb would have been 
 securely sealed, and R. I. P. to all of us. When one 
 thinks that Cairo saved us by interfering with my 
 removal of this man, it must add bitterness to the 
 cup they have to drink ! The telegrams about this 
 man's reinstatement, and my answer, are in Stewart's 
 Journal about the month of March. 
 
 I am arranging attack on Berber with four steam- 
 er Telegram Mudir of Dongola, saj-ing Cairo Government had shown 
 pressing benevolence for him to evacuate and thus rivet the " tombstone " 
 over Kartoum. — Ed.
 
 70 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 ers and Krupps, as soon as steamers come from Sen- 
 naar. 
 
 Spies with letters started for Dongola yesterday. 
 
 I hope Stewart will get hold of all copies of tele- 
 grams sent to us from Cairo for his Journal, and 
 which the Arabs captured (lovely reading! ), also 
 that he will find out result of Hewitt's Mission to 
 King John, and of Baring's negotiations for " open- 
 ing of the road from Suakin and Berber," he spoke 
 about on the 29th of March ! which caused hilarity 
 up here, and which led to his angering Cuzzi, who, 
 idiot-like, questioned the sagacity and success of the 
 step, and, getting turned out, paid us both (in all 
 probability) by betraying Berber to the Arabs. 
 
 Egerton is a statistician, he evidently is collecting 
 material for some great work. What earthly use is 
 it to us for Egerton " to know exactly our want of 
 provisions," when he is 1500 miles away! I am 
 vexed at not getting at the pith of his cipher tele- 
 gram ; all I can see is that 7775 (Zubair's name) is 
 not in it. 
 
 I am preparing to clear out of the palace, in toto, 
 leaving the telegraph only, and go into the Mudiriat, 
 so there will be plenty of room for the staff, if they 
 come up, which is even now a question to me. 
 
 From Lord Northbrook coming out, I infer that 
 Baring has returned to Cairo, and that my friend 
 Egerton has gone back to the Acropolis. I hope he 
 will say a good word to the King of Hellenes in fa- 
 vour of Leonidas, the Greek Consul here, who has 
 behaved worthy of his ancestor of Thermopylae, on a 
 small scale.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 71 
 
 I have a firm conviction we will not cIo anything; 
 in Egypt that will succeed, unless we fall into accord 
 with France, which would not be difficult to do. 
 
 Arabi Pasha's private secretary, whom even Stew- 
 art with all his Job-like patience had to give up as a 
 bad job, came to-day to say "he was starving," so I 
 have given him XIO a month again. How he ever 
 got on with Arabi is a wonder ; he and Stewart used 
 to spend hours, hob and nob, translating Arabic let- 
 ters, and then Stewai-t found out that the man had 
 just exercised his own in'^aginations and taken not 
 the least pains to give the sense of these letters' con- 
 tents. 
 
 The Shaggyeh are breaking my heart with their 
 family quarrels. I shall go to Half ey eh (Z?. V.) to- 
 morrow to see after them. They captured five men 
 who had been pardoned, and had gone back to the 
 Arabs, and want me to kill them, which I refuse to 
 do, for who are the rebels ? we or the Arabs. I am 
 responsible for the judicial murder of the two 
 Pashas ; beyond this I have put no man to death. 
 
 I think Colonel Stewart is hard on our men as to 
 their cowardice ; they are not heroes, I grant, but 
 they are not, to my mind, entire cowards ; " they do 
 not see it," that is all ; but if they are put in a posi- 
 tion where there is a chance, 2ifair chance of success, 
 they will take advantage of it and be plucky. The 
 Chinese are of the same temperament. "No two 
 piecey man can stay one place ; supposing you come, 
 I must go." This is an acknowledged maxim in the 
 East. 
 
 A spy came in, and says that Sheikh el Obeyed
 
 T2 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 has news in Ins camp that Ahdel Kader Pasha (what 
 a bother for Sanderson all these Abdel Kaders whom 
 he may mix up with the one of Algier) is loith troops 
 at Ifassala. 
 
 Two more mines exploded at Omdurman when they 
 were being taken up to renew the fuses, but did no 
 harm. 
 
 I saw the Shaggyeh chief Abdul Hamed to-day. 
 He says that Said and Ibrahim Hassan Pashas ^^ 
 were not guilty, and that the Arabs looted their 
 houses when they heard they had been killed by me, 
 which they would not have done had they been 
 really in communication with them. I shall send 
 for their families and give them each £1000, which 
 is all I can do. 
 
 The Toipjilcia went up and had her usual fight 
 with the Arabs. 
 
 Report is that a soldier has taken the breech 
 pieces of the two Krupp guns with the Arabs, and 
 has run away, rendering them useless. 
 
 If Abdel Kader is at Kassala what on earth are 
 our people about not to tell me, for of course I could 
 help him. We seem to have lost our heads in the 
 Intelligence Department, though it costs enough 
 money. 
 
 As for " evacuation,''^ it is one thing ; as for " rat- 
 ting ovt,^^ it is another. I am quite of advice as to 
 No. 1 (as we have not the decision to keep the coun- 
 try), but I will be no party to No. 2 (this " rat " 
 business), 1st, because it is dishonourable; 2nd, 
 
 OS The two black Pashas condemned to death by court-martial for 
 treachery on March 20th,
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 73 
 
 because it is not jjossible (ivhich will have more 
 weight^ ; therefore, if it is going to be No. 2, the 
 troops had better not come beyond Berber till the 
 question of what will be done is settled. So I will 
 end this book. 
 
 C. G. Gordon. 
 
 23 Sept., 1884. 
 
 N. B. — To be copied and read by Colonel Stew- 
 art, if he likes, and extracts given Mr. Power (as by 
 promise). Afterwards to be given to Miss Gordon, 
 Southampton, if not wanted by the Foreign Office.
 
 BOOK 11.
 
 Upon outside ivrapper : 
 COLONEL STEWART, C. M. G., 
 
 OR 
 
 Chief of the Staff, Soudan Expeditionary Force. 
 
 Journal Events, Kartoum, 23 to 30 Sept., 1884. 
 
 Contains no secrets as far as I am concerned. Official parts 
 those not scratched through. Contains map of Berber ; large 
 scale. 
 
 Chief of the Staff, Soudan Expeditionary Force. 
 
 For Lt.-Col. Stewart, C. M. G. If not with the army, for 
 Gejteral Lord Wolseley, G. C. B. 
 
 On Book itself: 
 
 II. 
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 From 23 September till 30 September. 
 
 C. G. GORDON. 
 N. B. — Will require pruning down, if published. 
 
 C. G. GORDON, 
 
 23/9/84. 
 Upon inside : 
 
 II. 
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 From 23 September till , 1884. 
 
 N. B. — It will require to be pruned out, if published. 
 
 C. G. GORDON. 
 23/9/84.
 
 JOURNAL. 
 
 September 24. — My view is this, as to the opera- 
 tions of British forces. I will put three steamers, 
 each with two guns on them, and an armed force of 
 infantry at disposal of any British authority ; will 
 send these steamers to either Metemma, opposite 
 Shendy, or to the Cataract below Berber, to there 
 meet any British Force which may come across 
 country to the Nile. These steamers, with this force 
 coming across country, will (/>. F.) capture Ber- 
 ber and then communicate with Kartoum. The 
 steamers will have a month's provisions. I would 
 not attempt to pass the hulk of British Force across 
 country, only the fighting column, to co-operate with 
 the three steamers. No artillery is wanted with 
 either force ; it is not needed in any way in this 
 country. When Berber is taken I should keep the 
 bulk of the forces there, and send up the fighting 
 column to Kartoum, after having arranged for its 
 provisions, for I cannot feed them ; then, in combi- 
 nation with us, clear out rebels from A to B, — an 
 affair of a week ; then decide on your future policy. 
 It is absolutely necessary to understand that we 
 cannot hurry over this affair.^ If we do we will in- 
 
 1 /. e. the future of the Soudan. — Ed.
 
 78 
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 cur disaster. I have spoken of the division of Brit- 
 ish forces into two lots, one a small fighting column 
 co-operating across country with the steamers which 
 will meet them, where you like, on the left bank of 
 the White Nile ; the other, composed of bulk, with- 
 
 DongolaO 
 
 Abou 
 PHamed 
 
 out artillery, coming up right bank of the Nile. 
 Now if I were doing this, I should, by the Abbas 
 steamer, work up by Merow^,^ Abou Hamed, to 
 Berber, by a series of small stations with small gar- 
 risons. I should at once get on each step of the 
 Nile ladder steam launches from Cairo, &c., and put 
 them in the open strips as previously explained in 
 2 7. e. 4th Cataract. — Ed.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 79 
 
 page 49 of my journal, Vol. No. 1.^ I then have 
 my route open to Dongola where the bulk of the 
 forces remain. 
 
 Saying the chain of posts is established, that, in 
 the interim, the Arab forces at A and B are dis- 
 
 % Abou 
 ^Hamed 
 
 Berber 
 
 persed, then you say evacuate. "Well, without mov- 
 ing the bulk, and, with the aid of the fighting 
 column, you can get down the Sennaar lot, while 
 steamers can bring down the Equator and Bahr 
 Gazelle garrisons. Now this will take at least six 
 months from the present date (for you will not come 
 
 8 L e. p. 47. — Ed.
 
 80 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 for a montK), You then begin your downward 
 march, and are harassed all the way,* and the 
 Mahdi will say he kicked you out. You see you 
 are in for six months, and if you evacuate all your 
 prestige vanishes. It is therefore, I say, either, 
 when once you have got up to Kartoum, give the 
 country to the Turks, or else establish Zubair, and 
 (instead of expending time in going up to Sennaar 
 and the Equator) combinating with us, commence 
 an attack upon Kordofan. You must be here six 
 months. How will you spend the time ? Will you 
 at the end of six months allow it to be said you are 
 kicked out, or will you not establish some govern- 
 ment and retire with dignity. The cost is the same 
 in both cases in money ; but in honour one costs a 
 great deal more. If Zubair falls, after some time, 
 what is it to you ? You did your best and save your 
 honour, and you save a mint of difficulties and 
 troubles, which these expeditions to Sennaar a»d 
 Equator involve. You will not be obliged to go 
 fifty miles beyond Kartoum.^ As for the Equator, 
 give it to me, and I will (Z>. F.) keep it from Zu- 
 bair. It is a thousand pities to give up Kartoum to 
 
 * "In Colonel Coetlogon's opinion the rebels will retire south on the 
 approach of the British, and await events. General Gordon would cer- 
 tainly refuse to go unless the population and garrison were guaranteed 
 safe departure. The population and garrisons of Kartoum and Sen- 
 naar 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. 
 
 5 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 appoinmient of Zubair, he had determined to 
 defend those provinces from all slave raids. — Ed.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 81 
 
 the Mahdi when there is a chance of keeping it 
 under Zubair. 
 
 The fighting force can take the guns of the steam- 
 ers, if they need artillery ; they are very good guns 
 and have field carriages with limbers. I shall not 
 send down the castellated barges or the Krupp guns. 
 Should you cross the desert en masse, the way to 
 guard your communications is to occupy, with a com- 
 pany, all the wells in a good large radius, for the 
 Arabs cannot come down on your line of communi- 
 cation, not being able to get water. This is the only 
 way to deal with the Bedouins, or slave hunters. 
 
 The elephants came up by the wells of Gabra,^ 
 direct from Debbeh to Kartoum. Care should be 
 taken on approaching Omdurman, for there are 
 rather a timid lot there (fellaheen). 
 
 You must consider whether you will not send down 
 those dreadful Bashi Bazouks, the scum of Alex- 
 andria, and the fellaheen soldiers, on arrival, for 
 they are of little use, and eat us up. 
 
 For my pai't, I should not hesitate to ride down 
 with three hundred men (having taken precaution to 
 have made arrangements with the Kababish tribe) 
 from Kartoum to Debbeh. 
 
 There is no difficulty in making flying bridges 
 across the Nile with the country boats, however 
 wide, using telegraph wire twisted in six or eight 
 strands. 
 
 Seyd Mahomet Osman's little boy, aged nine years, 
 was caught by Arabs, and behaved like a hero : 
 
 6 The Gabra wells are about thirty miles to the north-west of Kar- 
 toum. — Ed. 
 
 6
 
 82 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 " He was not going to be a Dervish. He was as 
 much the Mahdi as Mahomet Achmet ; and they 
 might kill him if they liked, &c. He was going to 
 stay with the Government and Gordon Pasha." They 
 left him alone. 
 
 The Sandjak described the scene a>s splendid : the 
 little fellow with flaming eyes, gesticulating and 
 stamping with fury. 
 
 " U. S. C.,' 6.30 P. M. — Did you ever hear of 
 
 such a thing ? ^ is appointed to . 
 
 A more barefaced job never ivas perpetrated. Why, 
 the man has done nothing, absolutely nothing. Atro- 
 cious ! But ivhat can you expect ? The whole lot 
 of them are off again, a regular autumn flight ! 
 What! eh! you will see them all at Christmas'' 
 (waxing more wroth). " I declare I have half a 
 mind to go to the Mahdi," &c. Page interrupts : 
 
 " Lady is waiting in the brougham." Collapse 
 
 and exit. 
 
 I cannot too much impress on you that this expe- 
 dition will not encounter any enemy worth the name 
 in an European sense of the word ; the struggle is 
 with the climate and destitution of the country. It 
 is one of time and patience, and of small parties of 
 determined men, backed by native allies, which are 
 got by policy and money. A heavy lumbering col- 
 umn, however strong, is nowhere in this land. Par- 
 ties of forty or sixty men, swiftly moving about, will 
 do more than any column. If you lose two or three, 
 what of it — it is the chance of war. Native allies 
 
 7 United Service Club. — Ed. 
 
 8 The blanks are General Gordon's. — Ed.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 83 
 
 above all things, at whatever cost. It is the country 
 of the irregular, not of the regular. If you move in 
 mass you will find no end of difficulties ; whereas, if 
 you let detached parties dash out here and there, you 
 will spread dismay in the Arab ranks. The time to 
 attack is the dawn, or rather before it (this is stale 
 news), but sixty men would put these Arabs to 
 flight just before dawn, which one thousand could 
 not accomplish in daylight. This was always Zu- 
 bair's tactics. The reason is that the strength of 
 the Arabs is their horsemen, who do not dare to act 
 in the dark. I do hope you will not drag on that 
 artillery : it can only produce delay and do little 
 good. I can say I owe the defeats in this country 
 to having artillery with me, which delayed me much, 
 and it was the artillery with Hicks which, in my 
 opinion, did for him.^ 
 
 Ten thousand times better for us to perish than 
 for you to run the risk ; and besides that, I have a 
 
 8 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 
 inarched 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 Icthv- 
 ophagi 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 Aminonians nor returned back, but the re- 
 port was that heaps of sand covered them over and they disappeared." 
 General Gordon has written against this extract : — " Hicks' arm}' dis- 
 appeared. This expedition was made into these lands." — Ed.
 
 84 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 confident belief we will not {D. V.} perish. The 
 usual hammer and tongs fusillade will go on, but 
 they will not attack the place, and we will not go 
 out against them ; while you will creep on quietly 
 and safely, and send out your feelers, making raids 
 upon these Arabs. I would let Buller have full 
 swing for all these little biting expeditions. I be- 
 lieve he is well off (and I think not married, which 
 is an enormous advantage) ; and he and his subor- 
 dinates will learn scouting, &c., in a good school. 
 It is this very same warfare we will have to exercise 
 if ever we would oppose Russia in her advance on 
 Afghanistan — i. e. of going up and landing in the 
 Persian Gulf, and cutting in on their flank. So it 
 will be a good school for him and his. 
 
 The wretched peasant, with that filthy cloth, which 
 you see, is a determined warrior, who can undergo 
 thirst and privation, who no more cares for pain or 
 death than if he were of stone. The young fellows 
 even have a game by which they test who will bear 
 the lash of the hiiJiDopotamus' whip best. They are 
 in their own land ; the pains of war are their ordinary 
 life ; and they are supported by religion of a fanat- 
 ical kind, influenced by the memory of years of suf- 
 fering at the hands of an effete set of Bashi Bazouks. 
 No ; if our Kentish or Yorkshire boys are to come 
 up to help me, it is not with my wish, unless with 
 the greatest precaution. Thank God we have few 
 Europeans here, and those I can (Z). V.^ care for, 
 and you need not fear for our retreat ; and if we die, 
 why, when we entered the army we sold our lives at 
 so much a day. I verily believe no merchant would
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 85 
 
 give me ^200, which, to me, is the current value of 
 the man in this world. 
 
 It is the most extraordinary thing-, quite incom- 
 prehensible, that with only one exception, that of 
 Zubair's man who came from Cairo (with Egerton's 
 famous despatch about contracts), not one single 
 messenger has entered this place on the proper ini- 
 tiative of outsiders. It has been invariably my mes- 
 sengers, who were sent out by me, from Kartoum, 
 who did bring me any news. It would seem as if 
 those outside seemed to think it was my duty to send 
 out and bring in news for myself, and that they had 
 nothing to do with it. Either these officers outside 
 do not care to spend a sou in spies to give me in- 
 formation, or else they think it is a matter of 
 supreme indifference whether I know what is going 
 on or not ; and I must say when my messengers do 
 come back, they bring me scarcely any information 
 of import. There is a lot of " I hope you are well," 
 &c. ; men like Kitchener and Chermside might be 
 expected to have more brains than that.^*^ If I had 
 not exerted myself in the spy business, we never 
 would have had a word, I verily believe. I never 
 saw such a poor lot as these outsiders. Even if they 
 had had to pay .£20 out of their own pockets, one 
 might have expected them to do it, considering the 
 circumstances. They might have been paid back. 
 But neither Her Majesty's Ministers in Cairo, nor 
 these men have seemed to care a jot to inform us. 
 Silly foolish questions are all we ever have got from 
 
 1" General Gordon was under the impression that Colonel Chermside 
 was at Debbeh, whereas he was, in fact, at Suakin. — Ed.
 
 86 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 them, and it is not to be wondered at, that I am 
 indignant with such unpatriotic conduct, and not 
 inclined to be over civil beyond my duty. I never 
 saw such a feeble lot in my life ! One has only to 
 compare the telegrams, &c., we sent down, with the 
 rubbish sent in by our oion messencjers I paid for. 
 
 Two children and three escaped soldiers came in 
 to-day from the Arabs, but had no news. 
 
 Read " Floyer's " telegram, with Kitchener's note 
 to Stewart on same paper — it perfectly exasperates 
 one. Kitchener asks Stewart " what he can do for 
 him " — nothing of what has gone on with respect to 
 the Soudan since Graham's expedition. Of course 
 men are not obliged to write at all. 
 
 I altogether decline the imputation that the pro- 
 jected expedition has come to relieve me. It has 
 come to SA VE OUR NATIONAL HONOUR 
 in extricating the garrisons, ^c, from a jposition 
 our action in Egyiit has j^lctc&d these gar'risons. I 
 was relief exjjedition No. 1. They are relief expe- 
 dition No. 2. As for myself I coidd make good my 
 retreat at any moment if I wished. Now realise 
 what would happen if this first relief expedition 
 was to bolt and the steamers fell into the hands of 
 the Mahdi : this second relief expedition (for the 
 honour of England engaged in extricating garri- 
 sons) would be somewhat hampered. We the first 
 and second expeditions are equally engaged for the 
 honour of England. This is fair logic. / came up 
 to extricate the garriso?is and failed. Earle comes 
 up) to extricate garrisoyis and (/ hope^ succeeds.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 87 
 
 Earle does not come to extricate me}^ The extrica- 
 tion of the garrisons was supposed to affect our " na- 
 tional honour." If Earle succeeds the " national 
 honour " thanks him and I hope rewards him, but 
 it is altogether independent of me, who for failing 
 incurs its blame. I am not the rescued lamh, and I 
 will not be. 
 
 Had Gessi dared to have communicated with me 
 like these men have, he would have heard of it ; but 
 he never did. 
 
 The Towjihia steamer went up and saw no Arabs 
 at Giraffe to-day. 
 
 Look at this : I send down a spy, A. Kitchener 
 and Co. send him back with answer. If Kitchener 
 and Co. thought, they would know that A., being 
 seen passing to and fro, must incur susjiicion ; how- 
 ever, A. happily gets through with risk (not having, 
 by the way, had one penny from K. and Co.) ; then 
 all communication stops till I send down B. What 
 is Kitchener doing at Debbeh ? that he could not 
 write a better letter than to tell me the names of 
 the generals and regiments — a matter of the most 
 supreme indifference to Kartoum. 
 
 Septemher 25. — Arabs came down to the Blue 
 Nile in some force, but the Mansovorali going up, 
 and our men pushing along the bank, they all fled. 
 I am going to Halfeyeh to see the Shaggyeh, who 
 are the worry of my heart. Having gone down, I 
 
 11 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. — Eyypt, No. 35, 1884; No. 157. — Ed.
 
 88 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 found a very fair market, and the Shaggyahs less 
 irritating than I expected to find them. 
 
 Question. What was the policy of her Majesty's 
 Government in sending up General Gordon ? 
 
 Answer. To endeavour to retire the garrisons hy 
 quiet means. 
 
 Qnestion. "What is the object of General Earle's 
 expedition ? 
 
 Answer. The same. General Gordon having 
 failed. 
 
 Question. If General Earle's expedition is for 
 the retreat of General Gordon and ends there, what 
 is the result ? 
 
 Ansiver. Her Majesty's Government agree that 
 they abandon the garrisons. 
 
 There is no jwssible escape froni the situation. 
 
 According to accounts from Bourr^, the Arabs 
 had come down in some force at night, and had hid 
 in villages near Bourre, meaning to fall upon our 
 foraging parties ; they did not bargain for the Man- 
 sowrah coming up with her two guns, and so caught 
 a Tartar when they emerged to attack our men, and 
 went off in great confusion and some loss. 
 
 An escaped soldier came in from the Arabs — no 
 news. He was so dreadfully itchy, I could not keep 
 my patience, or keep him in my room. He saw 
 liimself in the mirror, and asked who it was ; said 
 he did not know ! and really he did not seem to 
 know. It stands to reason that in countries where 
 there are no mirrors, every one must be a complete 
 stranger to himself, and would need an introduc- 
 tion.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 89 
 
 I wrote to Waled a Goun, Arab commander-in- 
 chief, as follows : — "I went to Halfeyeh to see 
 Shaggyeh, found five men there ; they wanted me 
 to kill them, for being of your family, who had gone 
 back to you after pretending to join me. I ques- 
 tioned these five men ; they said they could not bear 
 the smell of you, and that the Shaggyehs had wanted 
 their things, and so had invented the accusation. I 
 have no scales to weigh the truth — perhaps Maho- 
 met Achmet Mahdi has — so, as you have sent me 
 many soldiers of late, I send you these men. I have 
 taken the body of your Peacock " (alluding to the 
 man who came in with the wonderful dervish dress), 
 " but I send you the plumage of your bird on an- 
 other body." I have put the dress on one of the 
 men I sent out. 
 
 " Why did you run away so swiftly to-day ? was 
 Abou Gugiiz there ? It could not be you, for you 
 said so much about your desire to die at the fortifi- 
 cations." 
 
 " As for knowing the truth in the Soudan it is 
 impossible, for the devils of lying and robbery are 
 riding all over the country." 
 
 I gave them a dollar each ; they leave to-morrow. 
 I have also given them a captured Arab flag and a 
 captured dervish cap each, so they will go out a 
 grand procession, and as it is their Sunday (Fri- 
 day), they will arrive at church para.de. 
 
 Thousands of cranes, with their curious cry, are 
 passing over every day (" The cranes of Ibycus." 
 Few ever read Schiller's poems. I only know Bul- 
 wer's translation, but they have grand things in
 
 90 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 them. " The Veiled Image of Truth at Sais," 
 "The Ring of Polycrates," for who can hear plain 
 truth? Who can bear success?). 
 
 The notables were in a regular state about my 
 going to Halfeyeh to-day. A deputation came to 
 prevent it, but it was of no use. The Mudir threw 
 himself down and embraced my feet, begging me 
 not to go ; but, as I thought his solicitude was ac- 
 tuated more by the wish to prevent me going to 
 where he has, I expect, been robbing right and left, 
 than my security, I did not attend much to him. I 
 should break the hearts of our F. O., for I say 
 openly, " As your Government is bad, and will give 
 you nothing when you are decrepit, rob away gayly, 
 but with wisdom, and do not let me hear of it." 
 
 The Arabs will be in an awful rage to-morrow 
 with the procession of the five Dervishes with cap- 
 tured flags, &c. You can scarcely imagine the state 
 (well known to Stewart, Power, and Herbin) one 
 gets in, when one is constantly hearing explosions ; 
 what with the guns, mines, and musketry, one's 
 nerves get strained, and nothing can drop without 
 one thinking it is an explosion. What the Russians 
 underwent at Sevastopol must have been terrible. 
 As Hansall, the Austrian Consul, says, it is ahrutis- 
 sant. It has slackened off now, but still any loud 
 noise, in this clear air, makes me jump (i. e. be, 
 for a moment, afraid) like any man who rides knows, 
 when his horse, as it were, sinks completely beneath 
 him, on a sudden start. 
 
 I look forward to the advent of some of the Royal 
 Navy more than anything. There are such a lot of
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 91 
 
 splendid cutting-outs and surprises to be made by 
 the steamers, and the steamers are first-rate in every 
 respect. Each steamer is worth two thousand men, 
 if well handled, and they have all on board grub 
 and ammunition, and want no commissariat officers. 
 
 If I were Earle, I would leave all the principal 
 medical officers at Dongola, and only take on the 
 lowest ranks of the Army Medical Department. 
 
 The Principal Medical Officers are bores and 
 croakers, and want all sorts of attention. A man 
 is a fool or a physician at forty years of age. All 
 in this country you want is to keep the com^nunica- 
 tion open., and Cockle will do that. As for wounds, 
 there will be none, for Arahs give 7io quarter ; 
 neither will we, I expect, if we go over one hundred 
 miles of desert. 
 
 At Halfeyeh to-day, going round the Fort, a tal- 
 low-faced Egyptian dashed out with the most fearful 
 whine. I tried to cahn him ; no good, so Cassim el 
 Mousse, the Shaggyeh Meleh, interfei'ed ; no use ! 
 the man (?) threw himself on the ground, and del- 
 uged himself and me with dust, so Cassim gave him 
 a wipe over the head with his Hippo whip, and I 
 ordered him to be taken out of the ranks and 
 .brought to Kartoum ; en route my cavasses came 
 and remonstrated, saying he ought to be secured, 
 for he was the most notorious thief of Alexandria ; 
 so, justly or not, I have put him in prison. 
 
 It would be a great mistake to think the troops 
 are down in the mouth. We have certainly lost 
 a lot ; but the men are as determined as ever, and 
 only think it their due if they are aided. Stewart
 
 92 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 talks of their cowardice, but it is a cowardice of 
 calculation, and it would be a great mistake if the 
 expeditionary force for the extrication of the garri- 
 sons comes up here, and thinks the men are going 
 to say they are in extremis. (I leave out Cairo 
 troops and the Bashi Bazouks.) The black soldiers 
 do not think they have been beaten. There are not 
 many armies which would bear with the equanimity 
 these troops do, the loss of say one-fifth of their 
 numbers killed, which was the case in one defeat 
 (only twenty days ago) of Mahomet Ali Pasha. 
 
 The steamers from Sennaar will I think be in 
 to-morrow. 
 
 The question to-day at Halfeyeh was this. Cer- 
 tain heads of families had gone over to the Arabs 
 with Saleh Pasha (we put a sponge over that affair), 
 and their adherents, being in Kartoum, had not 
 gone over (not their fault) ; those who had gone 
 over with Saleh Pasha afterwards came over to me, 
 and asked for their adherents to be given back to 
 them. To this the chiefs of families, who had been 
 in Kartoum and who had kept these adherents un- 
 der them, objected, so it became a question what to 
 do. I decided to ask each man his desire. " Will 
 you go with A. or B, ? " The men came in at the 
 door, and after having elected, they went out of the 
 window, for there were not two doors ; they elected 
 as they wished, and went out of the window. Some 
 came in and thought that all that was required of 
 them was to come in at the door, and go out of the 
 window as quickly as possible without answering! 
 I do love to study mankind ; he is far better than
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 93 
 
 any landscape. These fellows knew well enough I 
 was going to put their decision on them, and tried 
 to avoid gi\^ng any, as to with whom they would go. 
 It was somewhat of a gymnastic process for them to 
 go out of the window, and they made a good mess 
 of it ; but if I had let them go out of the door by 
 which they had entered, inextricable confusion 
 would have occurred. As it was, we had resurrec- 
 tions at the door of those who had departed by the 
 window, which caused some bother. The two rival 
 chiefs were present, and one's object was to prevent 
 the elector looking at either while he elected ; some- 
 times it was necessary to secure that the pug-face 
 was fairly on the clerk, the electing officer, who 
 asked the question A. or B. I will back the eye for 
 knowledge more than any other organ. A man who 
 does not look you in the face in answering is 99 
 times in 100 a liar. 
 
 September 26. — There is one great question, and 
 if you know a person, say, K. is faitUess and is seek- 
 ing his own, ought one to be down on him? We 
 have an example in our Lord. He knew Judas was 
 going to betray Him, yet He did not denounce him; 
 from which I infer, if we know even that K. is go- 
 ing to rat, or be faithless, unless he, K., gives posi- 
 tive proof of such intention, we ought to treat K. as 
 J., of whom we have no suspicion of treachery. I 
 am inclined (satanically I own) to distrust every 
 one, I. e. I trust every one. I believe that circum- 
 stances may arise when self-interest will almost com- 
 pel your nearest relative to betray you to some ex-
 
 94 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 tent. Man is an essentially treacherous animal ; and 
 although the Psalmist said in his haste " all men 
 are liars," I think he might have said the same at 
 his leisure. 
 
 " You may depend upon it, I will do my best for 
 you " — to chief clerk W. O. " Why, if you give it 
 to him we must give it to more than forty. It is out 
 of the question." What is the result? Why the 
 him will go to his club and say, " Why I was prom- 
 ised it and did not get it." Whereas if he had 
 weighed the words, he would have seen he was prom- 
 ised only " the best he could do." This is a breach 
 of confidence, but it is an example. A man long 
 
 ago dead was asked by a lady to recommend 
 
 her son for an appointment (who was most 
 
 honest), wrote saying so-and-so wants such and such 
 a thing, but that he did not think the young man 
 for whom the appointment was solicited was worth 
 
 much. wrote to the lady to say he had done 
 
 his best. Unfortunately he placed the letters into 
 
 wrong envelopes. The lady never looked on 
 
 again. Well, I suppose was treacherous to the 
 
 lady. He might have refused to write, but he did 
 more — he did the young man harm by saying he 
 was not worth much. 
 
 I like to take things in a light-hearted way. I like 
 the tacit contract, "that if you are useful to me I 
 will use you " ; and " that " (with full belief) " if I 
 cease to be useful to you you will leave me." I try 
 and act, " do to others as they wish you to do to 
 them." I would never put a man in any position I 
 would not put myself.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 95 
 
 Although man is the essence of treachery, I be- 
 lieve every man wishes to he honest ; his interests 
 prevent him. 
 
 The five men went out to Arab lines with their 
 Arab flags, on which a church parade, which was 
 going on, dispersed. 
 
 It is a curious fact that any effort to relieve the 
 garrisons made from the outside is contemporaneous 
 with the expiration of the period stated in March 
 of the time they could hold out, viz., six months. 
 There are some ugly suspicious circumstances all the 
 way through ! The consequence will be a far greater 
 expense. Had efforts been made quietly between 
 March and August to span with proper transport 
 between Wady Haifa and Hannek,^^ much of the 
 present difficulties to an advance would have been 
 got over, and security would have been felt every- 
 where that efforts were really being made. There is 
 a humility in Baring's telegram asking my advice as 
 to routes for access to Kartoum. " Sir E. Baring 
 having gone to London, I am charged by Her Maj- 
 esty's Government to tell you to keep them informed 
 not only as to immediate but as to any prospective 
 danger at Kartoum, that you should advise them in 
 order to be prepared for any such danger as to force 
 necessary to secure your retreat, its amount, charac- 
 ter, route for access to Kartoum, and time for its de- 
 parture. Her Majesty's Government does not enter- 
 tain your proposal to supply you with Turkish or 
 other forces for the purpose of undertaking military 
 expeditions, such being beyond scope of your com- 
 
 12 Upper part of Nubian Desert. — Ed.
 
 96 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 mission, and at variance with the policy which was 
 the purport of your mission to the Soudan. If with 
 this knowledge you continue at Kartoum, you should 
 state cause and intention with which you so con- 
 tinue." ^^ If the telegrams I sent down in March to 
 Baring are referred to, it will be seen I had already ^^ 
 informed him of all he could possibly want to know, 
 and I specially said that the expedition by the route 
 of Wady Haifa would be (as it was at that epoch) 
 a mere picnic party. 
 
 Man proposes — God disposes. Any one who two- 
 and-a-half years ago had said that the Gladstone 
 ministry would not only go to Egyj^t, and, not con- 
 tent with one expedition to the Soudan (Graham's), 
 would go in for two exjyeditions, woidd have been 
 scouted as a madman ; and it certainly is curious 
 
 that Mr. Gladstone, in " Review '' '^^ oi 1878, 
 
 combating Mr. Dicey's ideas for the annexation of 
 Egypt, should have stated that this annexation was 
 impossible on account of the Soudan! 
 
 18 From British agent and Nubar Pasha to General Gordon, sent 5th 
 May from Suakin : reached 29th of July. — Ed. 
 
 1* 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 Haifa ; and do so at once by sending detach- 
 ments of troops to Wady Yi.&\ia.." — Egypt, No. 12 (188-1), Enclosure 1, 
 in No. 229. And again, on Feb. 29, " Should you wish to intervene, 
 send 200 British troops to Wady Haifa 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." — JEJ^-.v/Ji, No. 12 (1884), En- 
 closure 5, No. 229. -^ Ed. 
 
 15 Nineteenth Century, August, 1877- — Ed.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 97 
 
 There is one thing, which, in the opinion of the 
 world, would expunge all disagreeables from the 
 whole question, i. e. if the abolition of slavery were 
 proclaimed. It would be a difficult job, but w^uld 
 be possible if we took our time, and at Lord Mayor's 
 dinners, &c., it would be a platform no one could 
 come up to. 
 
 4 P. M. Steamers from Sennaar in sight. Now 
 we shall be all together again, thank God ! 
 
 The Arabs off the south front are all agog at sight 
 of the steamers coming down. Those on the Blue 
 Nile are firing on the steamers. I sent up Mansow- 
 rah to help them. The Arabs are in the houses. 
 Expenditure of ammunition is enormous, I should 
 think. The three steamers have passed the place 
 where the Arabs are. They came down one by one, 
 which was not wise. 
 
 From the top of the Serail one commands view all 
 round for miles. 
 
 It will be a satisfaction to Her Majesty's Navy to 
 know that it is our navy which has, humanly speak- 
 ing, saved us. It reaUy is a splendid fleet and naval 
 arsenal. The steamers have come in ; the Arabs 
 were numerous and had five guns ; seven of their 
 shells struck the steamers (Arabs had also two rocket 
 tubes). The steamers brought down 2000 ardebs, 
 and report Sennaar well off, and no Arabs in arms 
 in all their district. Seyd Osman Mahomet is said 
 to have occupied Katarif with his men. A sheikh 
 has promised to capture the steamer J/a/iome^ -4 Zi, 
 which is up the River Dinder, and to hand her over 
 to the Sennaar Governor. Wad Medinet did not 
 
 7
 
 98 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 fire on the steamers, but brandished spears, &c. ; our 
 loss in passing the gauntlet was three killed and 
 eight wounded. 
 
 The Arabs have no conscience ; they make my 
 captured soldiers serve the guns, and otherwise act 
 against us, under pain of death ! 
 
 I declare my people do, in a feeble way, what is 
 wanted, and do not deserve the character of cowards ; 
 they bear defeat far better than other peoples, and 
 they are good-tempered over it. We English are 
 the cream, all acknowledge that, but we will not 
 exist on two dates a day, as these men do, without 
 a murmur. 
 
 The steamer Bordeen was struck by two shots, 
 one near water-line. The Ismailia steamer received 
 three, the Talataween steamer received two shots. 
 Happily all got down safe. The Arabs fired from 
 guns and rifles with fury — we could see that from 
 the roof. All the steamers have got small-pox 
 from bullet-marks ! Our chief of the arsenal, Hus- 
 sein Bey, had been sharp enough to have bits of old 
 tents ready to stop shot-holes. Had we not had 
 these we might have lost the Bordeen steamer. 
 
 The Arabs had three forts (breastworks) along 
 the river-bank, rather above Giraffe. I mentioned 
 that we lost three killed and eight wounded ; now 
 marh this, on their way down the steamers met three 
 escaped soldiers from the Arabs ; they took them on 
 board, and, odd to say, of those killed and woimded, 
 were these three men, two having been killed, and 
 the other badly wounded! This is remarkable. 
 If we could believe it, ive are as safe in the fiercest 
 battle as in a drawing-room in London.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 99 
 
 September 27. — I have arranged to send down 
 three steamers to Shendy to co-operate with Dongola 
 forces, and to raise the Shaggyeh tribes. I have 
 sent out a man to warn Dongola of this fact. He 
 carries no letters, only a small slip, stating he is a 
 " true man." 
 
 It is of no use sending up to Sennaar again for 
 dhoora, for we have no money to pay for it, and it is 
 a risk with these Arab guns. Steamer Ismailia re- 
 ceived three shells ; steamer Bordeen two ; steamer 
 Talataween two. Some made tremendous holes, 
 and one in the Bordeen was close to water-line ; it is 
 wonderfid how they escaped. The poor escaped sol- 
 diers were asleep in the hold, when a shell entered 
 and burst ; two were killed, one was seriously 
 wounded. 
 
 Two men came in from the Arabs. One said he 
 was the Mahdi, the other said a courier had come 
 to the Arabs, saying the English were at Berber ; 
 they knew nothing of yesterday's fight. 
 
 Our steamers are of about the same consistency 
 as the Thames steamboats, so you may imagine the 
 risk there is of putting them under artillery fire. 
 
 The Towfikia steamer went up the White Nile 
 exchanging musketry fire with the Arabs. 
 
 My beautiful steamers, which used to be com- 
 paratively sweet, now stink like badgers. As for 
 the swell Ismailia she is a cess-pit. 
 
 Several other shots struck the upper works of the 
 steamers ; evidently they were under a nasty fire, 
 and as for bullet marks they are spotted all over. 
 Among the three killed (two of them escaped sol- 
 diers) one was a little boy.
 
 100 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 Another slave came in at Omclurman, but had no 
 news. 
 
 Great female squawking under the window of the 
 serail, approaching to yells. On examination I find 
 the noise comes from a black female fighting the 
 cavass. On enquiry I find my lady had gone down 
 to buy dhoora with two dollars in her hand, and had 
 been pushed by some ungallant fellow, and the 
 dollars fell into the river. Though I do not see 
 that the responsibility was upon me, I gave her the 
 two dollars, and comforted her black soul. It would 
 be a comfort if all the troubles of life were got rid 
 of so cheaply. 
 
 Having undergone considerable anxiety owing to 
 the Shaggyeh tribe in oui- lines dm*ing the blockade, 
 we got rid of them to Halfeyeh as soon as we 
 could.i^ But when they got to Halfeyeh, and met 
 their brethren who had been with the Arabs, and 
 who had come over to us, the former were seized 
 with distrust of the latter, and so we are obliged 
 to bring these latter into Kartoum. I do not think 
 it any risk, for the Shaggyeh have lied so very much 
 to the Arabs that nothing would ever make peace 
 between them, so I do not feel any discomfort about 
 them. 
 
 16 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 an- 
 other fight occurred, in whicli the son of Sheikh Sid and his followers 
 were killed on the 30th August, and the siege raised. This is con- 
 firmed 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 peo- 
 ple had come in and tendered their submission. — Egypt, No. 35, 1884, 
 iV'o. 133. — Ed.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL 101 
 
 It is not comfortable to see your steamers with a 
 hole in them through which you could push your 
 head and shoulders, and that not a foot above the 
 water-line. The Bordcen had that, the shell came 
 in on one side and burst on penetrating the other 
 plate of the other side. 
 
 To my mind, these Egyptian mountain guns are 
 far preferable to those steel guns of ours, with their 
 wretched small calibre, and I would prefer a smooth 
 bore howitzer to an Armstrong for these wars. 
 
 I made Nutzer Bey a Pasha for his Sennaar trip, 
 and send him down with Cassim el Mousse to Me- 
 temma to await advance of Her Majesty's forces. 
 Ibraham Tongi and Mousse Beys refused, or rather 
 declined to go unless also made Pashas, which I did 
 not see, so these worthies stay here. 
 
 B. to A. — " Well you know I had to send on the tele- 
 gram, and I added I hoped Stewart was well. That fel- 
 low G. takes exception to this, and says va sans dire, that 
 I could not have wished that Stewart was ill. Most un- 
 just. Had I added anything to this telegram, 1 might 
 have got into a row, which woidd never do, but what 
 was the use of pampering to inordinate curiosity ? " 
 
 A. to B. — " Well he pitched into me for asking Stew- 
 art to tell me if I could do anything for him (the com- 
 munications being so easy), and for teUing him the names 
 of the Generals (to my mind a most important matter, 
 for it would strike terror among the Arabs), he says he 
 does not care who the Generals are (wliich is sheer heresy 
 and perfectly sickening). I shall write nothing more to 
 hivi except the purest official documents. It is very clear 
 his liver is out of order, to go and attack officers of Ixis own 
 corps like that. It is atrocious ! "
 
 102 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 Septemher 28. — Two women and a man came in 
 to-day ; they say the Mahdi is not at Schatt, but at 
 liahad. Hussan Effendi and another directed the 
 guns against the steamers. The women say the 
 Arabs had three guns, not five. The Arabs did not 
 lose many from their people's accounts. Among the 
 three guns there was a Krupp, they say. 
 
 Say for a moment that the object of Her Majes- 
 ty's Government is simply to enable me to retreat, 
 and is irrespective of the retreat of the garrisons — 
 then all the loss of life in this neighbourhood on 
 both sides was thrown away, inasmuch as if I had 
 not come there would have been a speedier collapse, 
 without the loss of life (at least such is jjrobable). 
 The Government may say that they had reasonable 
 hopes that I would succeed ; I will neither say I 
 gave them such assurance or that I did not give it. 
 I think I was neutral in giving or in not giving such 
 assurance. 
 
 When the steamers get to Shendy, they will be 
 only 150 miles from Ambukol, v/hich is a little 
 higher up the Nile than Debbeh (35 miles). Three 
 more slaves came in from the north ; they had run 
 away from their master, and will enter the army. I 
 expect we shall have lots of this sort of thing. 
 
 Arabs show no disposition to close our road to 
 Shendy as yet, and I believe the country up to that 
 place is with Kartoum (I cannot say the Govern- 
 ment., for I do not know what the Government is). 
 
 One of the greatest sinners in the way of getting 
 Egypt into financial difficulties (whence all this 
 trouble) is . . . who in the Crimea used to sell 
 cheeses and other things at exorbitant prices.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 103 
 
 Sir Samuel Baker will be disgusted to know that 
 the crack vessel he got from Samuda, the Ismailia, 
 the biggest of his lot, is the worst of the larger 
 fighting steamers. She is a good yacht, but nothing 
 more. All these steamers we owe to Sir Samuel 
 Baker. 
 
 A Frenchman, Monsieur de Bizemont, brought up 
 the steamers from Cairo, through all the Cataracts. 
 Monsieur le Blanc was with him. Mr. Higgin- 
 botham, C. E., took the steamers in sections across 
 the Korosko desert. 
 
 September 29. — To-morrow is Bairam. I have 
 made Ferratch Pasha take over the festivities. The 
 Talataween^ Mansowrdh., and Saphia (Z>. F!) leave 
 for Shendy to-morrow night with 100 men on board 
 of each. Cassim el Mousse goes with them. I send 
 a slip to Lord Wolseley, to be forwarded with a spy. 
 The two journals of events from 10th to 30th Sep- 
 tember, and map of Berber, will go with steamers, 
 in hopes of their being able to find a more secure 
 road of sending them to Debbeh or elsewhere. 
 
 I found we had 700 bags of Indian rice in store. 
 I have issued it on account of pay to the troops, at 
 two okes^" per dollar. They will sell it at three 
 okes per dollar. It wipes off my debt to them, and 
 they will gain. 
 
 An escaped soldier came in, and says Mahdi has 
 had three messengers from Metemma, saying British 
 troops were coming up in shoals, and so he had a 
 dream, in which he was ordered back to Kordofan. 
 
 1'' An okc equals 3^ lbs. troy. — Ed.
 
 104 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 I hope the officers and men of Her Majesty's 
 forces will be considerate to the Egyptian soldiers 
 and sailors ; tJiey do not understand English., but as 
 they have done some good service, I hope they will 
 be kindly treated. They are a trying lot, as I well 
 know, but if it were not for them, our soldiers would 
 have to tramp many a weary sandy mile. It is one 
 of my joys that I never have to see Great Britain 
 again. I hope to get out of this affair, and either 
 go to the Congo, vid Equatorial Province, or by 
 Brussels. At any rate I shall never have to undergo 
 the worries I underwent during the week I was in 
 England this year. I say this in order that those 
 who may have to do with me may know how very 
 determined a man's will must be who does not wish 
 (and indeed loill not ever^ go back to England 
 again, and to whom continuance in Her Majesty's 
 Service, except for the honour of it, is a matter of 
 indifference. 
 
 I am now going to be egotistic, but it will save a 
 mint of trouble, and I may be pardoned, considering 
 the circumstances. By being so I may save myself 
 what I should much regret, a quarrel. 
 
 My idea is to induce Her Majesty's Government 
 to undertake the extrication of all people or garri- 
 sons, now hemmed in or captive, and that if tliis is 
 not their programme, then to resign my commission 
 and do what I can to attain it (the object). As long 
 as a man remains in Her Majesty's Service he is 
 bound to obey the orders of his superiors, but if he 
 resigns he cannot be held as insubordinate if he dis- 
 obeys. Of course it may turn on the question of
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 105 
 
 whether once having entered the service of Her 
 Majesty's Army,' one is free to leave it at one's will. 
 But we officers are not like the private soldiers en- 
 gaged for a term of years, and perhaps one may 
 risk dismissal if the cause is worthy of it — which, 
 I think, the question of abandoning the garrisons is. 
 
 I say this, because I should be sorry for Lord 
 Wolseley to advance from Dongola without fully 
 knowing my views. If Her Majesty's Government 
 are going to abandon the garrisons, then do not ad- 
 vance. I say nothing of evacuating the country ; 
 I merely maintain that if we do so, every one in the 
 Soudan, captive or hemmed in, ought to have the 
 option and power of retreat. Having given them 
 that option and power, I have nothing more to say, 
 and I would not care whether the country is evacu- 
 ated or not. 
 
 It is a miserable country, but it is joined to Egypt, 
 and to my idea it would be difficult to divorce the 
 two. 
 
 I will end these egotistical remarks by saying that 
 no persuasion will induce me to change my views ; 
 and that as to force, it is out of the question, for I 
 have the people with me — at any rate of the towns 
 which hold out. Therefore, if Her Majesty's forces 
 are not prepared to relieve the whole of the garri- 
 sons, the General should consider whether it is 
 worth coming up — in his place, if not so prepared}^ 
 
 18 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 opera- 
 tions far beyond the sphere which Her Majesty's Government is pre- 
 pared to sanction.
 
 106 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 I would not do so. I do not dictate, but I say what 
 every gentleman ^^ in Her Majesty's Army would 
 agree to — that it would be mean (^coute que coute^ 
 to leave men who (though they may not come up to 
 our ideas as heroes) have stuck to me, though a 
 Christian dog in their eyes, through great difficul- 
 
 As regards the Sennaar garrison, Her Majest3''s Gov^ernment 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 por- 
 tion 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 employes 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 Govern- 
 ment at Kartoum which, so far as all matters connected with the inter- 
 nal administration of the countrj'^ are concerned, would be wholly inde- 
 pendent of Eg3'pt. — Lord Wolseley's Instructions, Egypt, No. 35, 1884, 
 No. 157.— Ed. 
 
 19 " I am strongly against an}' 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 j'ou must see that you could not recall me nor 
 could I possibly obey imtil the Cairo employes 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 Kartoum, 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 stav at Kartoum." — Ed.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 107 
 
 ties, and thus force tliem to surrender to those who 
 have not conquered them, and to do that at the bid- 
 ding of a foreign Power, to save one's own skin. 
 Why the black sluts would stone me if they thought 
 I meditated such action. Stewart knows all this 
 and used to groan over perversity. 
 
 Sejitemher 30. — The Arabs fired seven shells last 
 night at 9 p. m. which fell inside the lines, but did 
 no harm. To-day being Bairam, they fired four 
 rounds in their camp — a salute I suppose. 
 
 The spy who came in yesterday says the report is 
 rife that Seyd Mahomet Osman's men have entered 
 Katarif. 
 
 The three steamers will leave here to-day for 
 Shendy at 4 p. m. 
 
 I shoved off the Bairam reception upon Ferratch 
 Pasha, who held it upon the lines. I am not up to 
 these affairs, and I think he likes them. 
 
 As soon as ever I hear of the arrival of troops at 
 Berber, down will go the Greeks, Bashi Bazouks, 
 and fellaheen soldiers, with a month's provisions. 
 The people of Berber then can send them on, as best 
 they can — they will be off my hands. I have every- 
 thing ready to send them. We have no telegraph 
 wire left up here to repair the lines, so Floyer had 
 better see to it ; all ours has been used in the wire 
 entanglements. 
 
 The troops on board the steamers are fellaheen 
 soldiers. If Berber is captured, better take them 
 out and keep them (they are part of their way to 
 their homes), and replace them with such black
 
 108 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 troops as may be released at Berber ; but see after 
 these white soldiers' pay, and rations, and do not 
 neglect them. 
 
 We do not want to be told the steamers are dirty, 
 for we know it. 
 
 If coming up, see beforehand that Arabs have not 
 a gun or guns at the Shoboloha Pass, and if wood 
 has to be looted, loot those people on the left bank 
 of the Nile, not those on the right. 
 
 I do not care much to have Wood's men here ; 
 there will be sure to be rows between them and our 
 blacks, and they are not favourites in the Soudan. 
 Still less do I want to see Bashi Bazouks, or tribes 
 who have been taken into our pay, for they will rob 
 right and left. 
 
 I have prepared the beads, copper rods, uniforms, 
 &c., to send up to the Equator as soon as it is pos- 
 sible. Report says the garrison of the Equator is at 
 Fashoda. 
 
 The sister steamer to Abbas will be finished in 
 twelve days. We made, or rather Hassan Bey made, 
 a fii"st-rate crank. 
 
 Remember, we have very few dollars here, and 
 gold is depreciated in value. We have only £1000 
 in the treasury. 
 
 It woidd be as well to tell the Greek creditors, 
 who may be coming up, that there is not the least 
 probability that the Government, whatever it may 
 be, will look at any of their claims until at least a 
 year has expired. 
 
 We have painted the steamers up ; they are wliited 
 sepulchres.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 109 
 
 I hope Ibrahim Tongi and Moussa Beys, who will 
 come down with the first lot, who leave this (after 
 the hoped-for capture of Berber), will be sent on to 
 Cairo at once, and not given appointments, on any 
 consideration, at Berber or elsewhere. 
 
 I like trying to find solutions for this Soudan 
 problem. This is the last. Let Towiik Pasha send 
 up Abdel Kader Pasha, as Governor - General, to 
 replace me at once. As soon as the firman comes, 
 I am out of calculation, and Her Majesty's Govern- 
 ment can do what they like, for Abdel Kader will 
 follow their dictum. Such an act would not in the 
 least vex me. Lord Wolseley can then do what he 
 thinks fit with respect to the Soudan, the abandon- 
 2nent, and all the et ceteras, and I am free of all re- 
 sponsibility to the people and to the troops, or with 
 respect to the money affairs, dhoora, &c., &c. But 
 in this case, it must be borne in mind, I am not the 
 " rescued lamb," simply having been sent up to per- 
 form a certain mission, i, e. extrication of garrisons. 
 I failed, and was replaced by Abdel Kader and a 
 British Force. It is for them to explain any change 
 in their programme. 
 
 The same remarks, appended to the end of Vol- 
 ume I., are added to this in re Mr. Power and For- 
 eign Office, &c. C. G. Gordon. 
 
 30th September, 2 p. M., Kartoum. 
 
 I really think that as Her Majesty's Government 
 and I are in such opposite camps (at least I think 
 so) — in re the extrication of the garrisons — it 
 would save a mint of trouble if Towfik Pasha were
 
 110 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 to replace me by Abdel Kader Pasha, with whom 
 Her Majesty's Government could do as they liked. 
 At any rate, a scandal would be avoided ; and I 
 think Abdel Kader would be well received by all. 
 Of course I should have the privilege of laughing 
 in my sleeve if, after all, Her Majesty's Govern- 
 ment found they could not get out without the es- 
 tablishment of Turks or Zubair, or the retentio7i of 
 the Soudan under Egypt. I, therefore, as an adieu, 
 recommend this course, for it opens a speedy exit for 
 me without rows, and clears me of all responsibility 
 whatever. C. G. Gordon.
 
 BOOK III.
 
 On outside wrapper (a handkerchief) : 
 No secrets as far as I am concerned. 
 
 C. G. GORDON. 
 
 Lt.-Colonel Stewart, C. M. G., 
 Chief of the Staff, or Lord Wolseley, G. C. B. 
 Soudan Expeditionary Force. 
 
 Journal of Events — Kartoum, Vol. III. 
 From 1st Oct. to 12th Oct., 1884. 
 
 On cover at back : 
 General Gordon's Journal 
 From 1st Oct. to 12th Oct., 1884. 
 
 EVENTS IN KARTOUM. 
 It will require pruning down, if published. 
 
 C. G. GORDON. 
 
 1/10/84. 
 On inside sheet : 
 
 EVENTS AT KARTOUM. 
 General Gordon's Journal, Vol. III. 
 From Oct. 1st to 1884. 
 
 If published, must be pruned down. 
 
 C. G. GORDON.
 
 JOURNAL. 
 
 October 1. — Steamers left yesterday at 3 p. m. 
 for (Berber, D. V., via) Sliendy. Yesterday tlie 
 steamer Toicfikia attacked the Arabs on the White 
 Nile, and killed a horse and three men. Steamer 
 Bordeen drove back the horsemen on the Blue Nile. 
 The Arabs attacked a village lower down the White 
 Nile than Halfeyeh, and were driven back by the 
 villagers with loss : you may believe as much as you 
 like of this, hut our vessels toent out, that is the 
 main thing. 
 
 The more I think of appointing Abdel Kader ^ 
 Pasha in my place, the more strongly does the idea 
 recommend itself, for it does away with all diffi- 
 culties, and leaves Her Majesty's Government per- 
 
 1 Abdel Kader was then Minister of War. In March 1882, he was 
 appointed to succeed Raouf Pasha as Governor-General of the Sou- 
 dan, 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 
 1881, Abdel Kader was selected by the Egyptian Government as their 
 envo}' to Kartoum. Pie at first accepted the position and then declined 
 it. Upon this the Egyptian Government requested Her Majesty's Gov- 
 ernment 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 wfis suggest- 
 ing the very man whom he had succeeded. — Ed.
 
 114 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 fectly free to abandon or not as it thinks fit. Abdel 
 Kader Pasha would be under no such obligations as 
 I am to the soldiers, &c., of these beleaguered 
 places, and Her Majesty's Government could put it 
 all on him if anything was said. To me it has the 
 selfish advantage of being free at once of a very dis- 
 agreeable and troublesome position, both personally 
 and publicly. 
 
 As for feeling at all vexed at this arrangement, 
 viz. my being put out, I should not, for the only 
 thing which actuates me is this : / think it mean to 
 have the garrisons ; but if my superiors decide to 
 do so, and will take the responsibility, then what 
 am I ? to dispute their decision, the more especially 
 as I cannot do so without funds, which I have not. 
 1 do not dispute but that the withdrawal of the gar- 
 risons is not a difficult task, but not impossible ; 
 and if not impossible, our honour binds us to fulfil 
 it, and to my mind it is shabby not to do it : but 
 Governments do shabby things, vide the Boer busi- 
 ness, and if they are going to do it here, the way I 
 have pointed out is the best. There is not the least 
 reason for me to participate in its execution ; it 
 would not be fair to try and force me, and another 
 thing is that I would not be forced. I believe Her 
 Majesty's Government will adopt this idea, and if 
 they do, I see a vista of an escape with honour and 
 without y)'acas (which is very pleasing), from a po- 
 sition which is not likely to be a feather-bed, and 
 which might require me to go on struggling for over 
 a year, not only against the Arabs, but against the 
 antipathies and ill-disguised hostility of Her Maj-
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 115 
 
 esty's Government, for certainly they would not be 
 over friendly if forced into a line of action their soul 
 abhors. 
 
 / thinh we are bound to extricate the garrisons 
 whatever it costs ; they do not ; there is no reason 
 for any difference of opinion which cannot exist be- 
 tween a Government and an individual ; they simply 
 place an individual who thinks with them, and the 
 matter is done, and this individual is Abdel Kader 
 Pasha. I see no reason to try and force me to do 
 what I do not think right, and which I can conse- 
 quently do only in a half-hearted manner if I even 
 undertook it, which I will not. 
 
 As for the effect of my replacement by Abdel 
 Kader Pasha : 1st, it would produce no surprise, for 
 it is well known I and Towfik are not at all friends. 
 2nd, it is also known that Her Majesty's Govern- 
 ment wish to be rid of all responsibility of the 
 Soudan, in re the garrisons ; therefore the removal 
 of me would be merely the carrying out of this 
 policy. 3rd, Abdel Kader Pasha is the best man 
 they have had up here, and so, till the matter was 
 broken to them, he would be well received. It is 
 not vaunting myself when I say that the general 
 opinion here is this, that Her Majesty's Government 
 woidd never have sent an expedition up here had it 
 not had me and Stewart here, sent up hy them 1 ^ 
 
 2 The instructions conveyed to Lord Wolseley by Her Majesty's Gov- 
 ernment were to the effect that the primary object of the expedition ioas 
 to bring away General Gordon and Colonel Steioart from Kartoum. He 
 was moreover enjoined not to advance further southwards than was ab- 
 solutely necessary in order to attain the primary object of the expedition. 
 — Ed.
 
 116 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 I think they fully realise, that as far as the garri- 
 sons, &c., &c., were concerned, were it not for us 
 they might perish as quickly as they liked ; they 
 also realise that, unless for the action of Her Maj- 
 esty's Government at Cairo, assistance would have 
 been sent long ago from Cairo, so it must not be ex- 
 pected of the people to be very grateful. They are 
 glad to get out of their mess, but consider they are 
 only extricated under compulsion of circumstances, 
 and not co?i amore. 
 
 If time presses, then telegraph Towfik to make 
 the Mudir of Dongola Governor- General (it does 
 not signify who is your dummy, only perhaps he 
 may not be so ductile as Abdel Kader) in my place, 
 and your work is easy, such work as it is. . 
 
 Personally^ I can assure you, I shall be only too 
 delighted, for I could be in Brussels in December, 
 and free, honourably, of the whole affair ; you could 
 not possibly expect me to stay after being replaced. 
 Mark my words, if you have made wp your mind^ 
 this is the best solution and avoids all scandal. 
 
 Abdel Kader will make out that the Mahdi's gov- 
 ernment is not really so bad : that it is impossible, 
 &c., &c., to be wandering all over Africa, and his 
 paper on the state of affairs will go down splendidly 
 with the public, and there will be honours all round, 
 and mutual congratulations. The British public ac- 
 cepted, without hesitation, the trial of Arabi Pasha, 
 by Ismail Pasha Ayoub, and Reouf Pasha, as being 
 a just one ! Why, had they tried an angel, and 
 Towfik had wished the angel guilty — guilty that 
 angel loould have been, even if Michael or Gabriel.
 
 Ber, 
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 117 
 
 Now I have told you how to whitewash I will end 
 this tirade. I will only remark that Her Majesty's 
 Government must not say I was replaced.^ because I 
 wished to keep the Soudan, for I do not say so, 
 it is an useless country; what I say is, that it is 
 shabby to abandon the garrisons, &c., &c. 
 
 I own the proposition I make is in some degree 
 a trap, for I feel confident that there will be no end 
 of trouble, even in placing Abdel Kader Pasha in 
 my place and trying to evacuate ; but if you accept 
 it you will do so (after this warning) with your eyes 
 open. 
 
 Two women slaves came in from the Sheikh el 
 Obeyed ; no news, except that the Arabs with this 
 chief are very badly off for water. 
 
 The following is what I would do, if in supreme 
 command, military and political. Divide the forces 
 into three sections ; one, A, to stay at Dongola, half 
 
 
 force, and look after communications from Wady 
 Haifa to Berber by river, in those etapes or stages 
 already alluded to. 
 
 Another, B, to occupy Berber, quarter force. 
 
 Another, C, to be a fighting force (quarter force) 
 without artillery, for we have guns up here. AVith 
 C I would come to Kartoum, coax Arabs down to 
 Giraffe, destroy them ; then coax Arabs to El f oun 
 and destroy them ; then push up to Wad el Medinet 
 and destroy Arabs there, thus opening the road to 
 Sennaar and allowing grain to come down.
 
 118 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 By which time you would see your way as to the 
 future. I would restore the telegraph as I went 
 along. 
 
 The result of these operations would be the re- 
 treat of the Mahdi's Arabs to Kordofan, and the 
 surrender of those in and about Kassala. 
 
 Humanly speaking, there will be probably three 
 fights, costing each fight, eight killed and fifteen 
 wounded, as far as experience goes ; not more, and 
 very likely, if the first fight is a good one (and we 
 have a good pursuit), there will be no more after 
 it ; all the rest will be child's play.^ 
 
 Arabs must have one good defeat, to wipe out 
 Hicks' disasters, and my defeats. Berber will be 
 evacuated. 
 
 The troops at fight No. 1 Giraffe will go up in 
 the castellated barges (which are real fortresses), 
 and be covered by five steamers, each with two guns, 
 and two barges with a Krupp gun in each (16- 
 pounders), so there would be no risk ; none of the 
 Arabs' forts are closed at gorge. 
 
 Force need not be more than 1000 strong, for ive 
 could send 3000 for the flanks ; but, as it would 
 fight on river banks, there would be no fear for 
 flank attack. All could be done in thirty days as 
 far as fighting is concerned. This of course leaves the 
 question of Kordofan unsettled. The Mahdi might 
 come to terms, and abandon his spiritual power, but 
 I doubt it. 
 
 8 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 ma- 
 terially increased during December and January. — Ed.
 
 120 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 The fighting force C probably will be under Bul- 
 ler. Earle at JS either ; Doi'mer a.t Ahou Hamed ; 
 and Fremantle at Dongola ; the Sirdar at Wady 
 Haifa ; Lord Wolseley partout ! Goodenough in 
 command of Royal Artillery ; Harrison (in recollec- 
 tion' of China) commanding Royal Engineers. I 
 hope Goodenough will not be too proud to use our 
 guns ; he will be horrified at the vents, which are 
 from continuous firing; we do not re- 
 bouch up here, not having bouches. 
 
 No one could be astonished at my re- 
 luctance to make a bolt of it without 
 the garrisons, for it virtually makes out 
 all our toils, for the last seven months, as utterly 
 useless ; we had, to all intents and purposes, better 
 have surrendered months ago. One feels such a 
 mean brute to go egging on men to fight, and then 
 to let it end with a skedaddle. 
 
 October 2nd. — A sergeant-major, with a soldier, 
 escaped last night ; he rejjorts that the Mahdi came 
 from Obeyed to Schatt, with two ortas of black 
 captured troops, two Krupp guns, and seven moun- 
 tain guns ; but then the Arab tribes in his rear rose, 
 and that he went back, taking the guns with him, 
 sending one of his Ameers, Abdullah Waled Jubira, 
 to Kalakla with 100 black troops. The sergeant- 
 major reports the Arabs have 140 Krupp shells and 
 200 boxes of Remington ammunition; that the 
 Arabs did not suffer when they fired on the steam- 
 ers coming from Sennaar ; that, with the Mahdi, are 
 all the Roman Catholic Mission party, tvJio have not
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 121 
 
 changed their religion : one nun is exposed to the 
 sun to force her to do so. The man says the other 
 guns are all broken in their carriages, in the Mahdi's 
 fights with the Arabs. The Mahdi takes Slatin and 
 all the Europeans with him when he moves ; he re- 
 ports Waled a Goun has sent the black troops he 
 had with him to the rear, because so many escaped ; 
 the Arabs fii'ed a salute of four guns on arrival of 
 the Ameer Abdullah Waled Jubira. 
 
 A slave coming in from the left bank reports 
 Faki Mustapha with few troops ; says the rumour of 
 the advance expeditionary force is rife ; says the 
 Arab ferry is at Kalalda ; they pass only at night. 
 The sergeant-major says that he is sure the tribes 
 (on the Mahdi's going to Schatt) all rose and pil- 
 laged on the road : hence the Mahdi's return to- 
 wards Obeyed. 
 
 The man the doctor operated upon for the large 
 stone is dead. 
 
 From what the sergeant-major says, it appears I 
 am not more liked by the Mahdi than I am else- 
 where — a nuisance ! and a bore ! 
 
 The Towfikia steamer went up the White Nile, 
 and fired upon the Arabs ! The Bordeen steamer 
 went up the Blue Nile, and fired upon the Arabs ! 
 The Halfeyeh people went out and captured a 
 camel ! All these things are hostilities not counte- 
 nanced by Her Majesty's Government. This afflicts 
 me, that joker Egerton ! 
 
 I have sent off another spy to Debbeh, saying 
 that three steamers wait their orders at Metemma, 
 one hundred and fifty miles from Debbeh !
 
 122 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 The Shaggyeh tribes are giving me bother again 
 with their horrid families down river. They are 
 most exasperating. 
 
 A horse escaped from the Arabs, formerly belong- 
 ing to Government. It gave no information ; but 
 from its action, may be sujjposed 7iot to helieve in 
 the 3fahcli. 
 
 Simmons * and I agree on one subject — that 
 Egypt is useless to us, unless we have command of 
 the seas ; and if we have command of seas, Egypt is 
 ours ; therefore it is not worth bothei'ing about. We 
 will never be liked by its peoj)les ; we do not go the 
 right way to be liked. To my mind, if we looked 
 after the Cape and Mauritius, &c., it would be far 
 more beneficial, and less expensive, than wasting our 
 money on Egypt and the Soudan ; but because Egypt 
 nsed to be important, we think it is always so. 
 Whereas, the introduction of steam has quite altered 
 its importance, while the creation of other Naval Pow- 
 ers in the Mediterranean renders that sea no longer 
 a question of supremacy of France or England. 
 
 I have mentioned reports of troops moving on 
 Kassala, yet not one word is said, either one way or 
 another, by Kitchener. Surely he must know that 
 if this is the case, I ought to be told ; or if no move- 
 ment is being made in that direction, I ought to be 
 informed. 
 
 Arabi's clerk, Ahmet-Eff-Awaan ^ (Stewart knows 
 
 ^ General Sir Lintorn Simmons, G. C. B. — Ed. 
 
 6 "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 IVIinistry of Marine. I know the
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 123 
 
 him well) was, on Stewart's departure, represented 
 to me as in utter misery, so I gave him back £10 
 a mouth. To-night I heard my friend had been 
 positively preaching for the Mz^di ! so I have shut 
 him up. An attempt was made the day before yes- 
 terday morning to set fire to one of the houses near 
 the magazine at the Roman Catholic Mission. It 
 was discovered ; it was evidently the work of an in- 
 cendiary. I have ordered all houses to be pidled 
 down in the neighbourhood. This is not comfort- 
 able, for it shows we have some evil-disposed people 
 here.^ 
 
 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 employ^ in the Cadastral Survey under Sir Auck- 
 land 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 secre- 
 tary, 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 Duffcrin 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, ne- 
 gotiated its surrender to its Arab deliverer." — Mr. Wilfred Blunt in a 
 Letter to the Times of May 4, 1884. — Ed. 
 6 "One of the most painful parts of this business is the constant and
 
 124 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 October 3. — Small church parade to - day on 
 South Front. Some twenty - five horsemen came 
 near the lines, and four shots were fired at them. 
 
 An inquiry is goiftg on about the fire near the 
 magazine. Some little suspicion that Awaan is 
 mixed up with it, for his house was near ; indeed, it 
 adjoins the place where the fire was. It burned 
 four tents. It will go hard with him if JLie is found 
 guilty : certainly his preaching in favour of the 
 Mahdi is against him. 
 
 I visited the place of the fire, and also Awaan's 
 house. My impression is against Awaan's being the 
 culprit ; but I have no doubt the Court of Inquiry 
 will find him guilty. Wilfred Blunt will be crying 
 out about this ill - used martyr, so will Arabi the 
 blest. I am paying for the houses pulled down. 
 There is no doubt the fire was the work of an incen- 
 diary. To-day ends the Bairam. 
 
 Stewart will not believe it of Awaan ; but it ap- 
 pears that in disputing about the Mahdi, Awaan 
 took off his slipper "' and struck his opponent — he 
 
 continual reports one hears of the intended treachery of this or that 
 influential man. I have, though greatly tried, kept iny 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 Goj'don's telegram to 
 Sir E. Baring, received at Cairo end of 31arch, 1884. Egypt, No. 12, 
 No. 287.— Ed. 
 
 ■^ To strike with a slipper during a dispute is with Moslems the great- 
 est insult one man can offer another. — Ed.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 125 
 
 was so strong in his opinion. A more fawning, 
 wretched fellow one never saw. I should send him 
 to the Mahdi, but that he knows English, and is a 
 born intriguer. 
 
 I reason thus, respecting the slackness of the In- 
 telligence Department not sending in spies. As 
 noted in the journal, on an average four or five 
 men come in daily from the Arabs, therefore they 
 do not keep so very strict a look-out ; also now there 
 are vast gaps in their lines around the place, and one 
 may say from here to Shendy is oj^en. It is more 
 difficult to go out than to come in, for in going out 
 one may stumble on some new emplacement of the 
 Arabs, while in coming in a man can ascertain such 
 emplacements beforehand ; it is evident also, that as 
 all the information we have had has come from my 
 return S2nes, that no effort has been made by the 
 Intelligence Department. Had that Department 
 initiated any such step, in any energy, it is unliliely 
 that all their men would have been stopped — my 
 spies get caught, though, so frequently passing the 
 lines of Arabs. 
 
 The more one thinks of it, the more impossible 
 does it seem for her Majesty's Government to get 
 out of this country without extricating the garrisons 
 and establishing some Government at Kartoum ; 
 once having, as they have, come up to Dongola, they 
 cannot well go back from Dongola ; they must come 
 to Berber, and when once at Berber, as there is the 
 river, they must come up here ; once here, they must 
 go to Sennaar or arrange to open this route. It is 
 of all things the most perplexing, and one does not
 
 126 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 see the end of it, unless we give the country to the 
 Turks. With the best will and with all favourable 
 circumstances, i. e. that it is found possible to aban- 
 don, it will take six to eight months, and with a 
 terrible outlay ; and one cannot think that even then 
 it is a satisfactory termination if, after extricating 
 the garrisons and contenting ourselves with that, we 
 let the Madhi come down and boast of driving us 
 out. 
 
 If we proclaim the abolition of slave-holding we 
 must proclaim it in Egyjjt as well, and then the 
 revenue falls. The Turks really seem the only way 
 out of it, in a speedy way. It wovild be cheaper to 
 give them a million pounds than to keep our people 
 up here, and there is no discredit to our arms if we 
 take Berber and open the route to Sennaar, and 
 then leave the country to the Turks, letting them 
 deal with the Mahdi as they like. I think even the 
 gift of two millions to the Turks would be a cheap 
 solution of it, and is also a quick and an honourable 
 one. 
 
 As for Her Majesty's Government keeping the 
 Soudan itself, it is out of the question, for you could 
 not get men to serve here except under great sala- 
 ries and supported with large forces ; and as for giv- 
 ing it back to Egj^ot, in a couple of years we would 
 have another Mahdi ; therefore, our choice lies be- 
 tween Zubair and the Turks. Now, the time has 
 gone by when Zubair, almost alone, would suf&ce ; 
 he would now need aid in men, while the Turks 
 would need no aid from us in men. Therefore, give 
 the country to the Turks, when once you have come
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 127 
 
 to Kartoum, with one or two millions sterling (which 
 YOU will spend in three months' occupation up 
 here if you delay), make arrangements at once with 
 the Porto for its Soudan cession, let 6000 Turks 
 land at Suakin and march up to Berber, thence to 
 Kartoum ; you can then retire at once before the 
 hot weather comes on.^ Let 3000 Turks land at 
 Massowah and go to Kassala ; that saves you that 
 journey. You would be even saved waiting till the 
 troops came from the Equator and Bahr Gazelle. 
 
 28th October. — Berber occupied. 
 
 5th Novemher. — 1000 troops at Kartoum. 6000 
 Turks land at Suakin and march to Berber. 4000 
 Turks land at Massowah and march to Kassala. 
 
 %th November. — Defeat of Arabs on south lines 
 — unless they have bolted. 
 
 \2th November. — Defeat Arabs near El foun, 
 unless they have submitted. 
 
 Ibth November. — Despatch of force to Sennaar 
 to clear country round Medinet. 
 
 1st to 10th December. — Arrival of Turks at Ber- 
 ber and Kartoum, and at Kassala. 
 
 8 Oa 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 feel- 
 ing." — Ed.
 
 128 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 20th Decemher. — Return of Her Majesty's forces 
 to Wady Haifa, leaving 1000 men at Dongola till 
 Turks covJd come from Berber. 
 
 The frontier to be Wady Haifa. All steamers, 
 &c., to be handed over to the Turks. The two mil- 
 lions to be paid in four instalments. 
 
 Suakin and Massowah to be free ports under the 
 Turks. 
 
 Egypt is responsible for the pensions of those 
 who return to Egypt. Turkey is responsible for the 
 pensions of those who stay in the Soudan. I see 
 nothing to prevent the whole affair being settled by 
 the end of Januar}^ and the whole expeditionary 
 force from being in Cairo at the end of February. 
 
 As for the slave-trade, one cannot help it.^ 
 
 I cannot see why France could object if we let 
 her have some " say " in Egypt. She will thwart 
 all we do there unless we do let her have a " say." ^"^ 
 
 We make up with Turkey by this action, and she 
 
 9 "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 Treats 1877? I answered that 
 the Treaty would not be enforced in 1889 by me, which, considering the 
 determination of Her Majestj-'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 Treat}' 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 j'ou all that I have been appointed, in concert 
 between the Khedive's Government and the Government of Great Brit- 
 ain, Governor-General of tlie 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. 
 
 1" General Gordon is here probably quoting the views of Herbin, the 
 French Consul. — Ed.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 129 
 
 > 
 
 would aid us to prevent Egypt being annexed by 
 
 any other Power. 
 
 Remember we have no time to lose — that we 
 must make our choice at once — and that choice 
 must be one of a strong decisive kind, with no shift- 
 ing hopes of something turning up. Our expedition 
 is very ticklish, very expensive, and utterly unretnu- 
 nerative. 
 
 If once our men get sickly up here, and our pro- 
 gramme is a skedaddle, the consequences might be 
 most disastrous. The skedaddle programme would 
 cool all the people against us, and strengthen the 
 Mahdi immensely ; and then there is no way to avoid 
 the heats, unless by the skedaddle progTamme ; but 
 if you agree with the Turks, you avoid the heats 
 and the skedaddle programme, and have people with 
 you. 
 
 I hope I am not going down to History as being 
 the cause of this expedition, for I decline the im- 
 putation. The expeditio7i comes up to deliver the 
 garrisons}^ I think it would read well in History : 
 " Her Majesty's Government having accepted duties 
 in Egypt, and consequently in the Soudan, sent up 
 a force to restore tranquillity, which, having been 
 done. Her Majesty's -Government handed over that 
 government of the Soudan to the Sultan." 
 
 11 Though, as shown in a previous note, General Gordon was right in 
 assuming no expedition would have been sent had he not been in Kar- 
 toum with Stewart, he is also right in saying, " Tlie expedition comes 
 up to deliver the garrisons," for the avowed policy declared in the in- 
 structions 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 employt^s. — Ed. 
 9
 
 130 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 Our people may try as they like, they can never 
 govern Egypt and pay the interest ; combine with 
 France, and let down the interest to 3 per cent., 
 which we cannot do without France agreeing. 
 
 As for any of the men in Cairo now pretending 
 to govern, it is useless ; they know nothing of, and 
 have no sympathy with, the country. What can 
 they know of the country, sitting at Cairo ? What 
 the people want, is half taxes, and Censors going 
 through provinces remedying evils. Do away with 
 Wood's army, an useless expense. Do away with 
 three-fourths of European employes, railway, &c., 
 &c. — cormorants ! — ditto Gendarmerie. 
 
 I shall send out three men in different directions 
 to-morrow to Debbeh, with further notifications that 
 three steamers, and each with two field-guns, are at 
 Metenmia, Shendy, 150 miles from Ambukol, which 
 is 35 miles higher up river than Debbeh, waiting 
 orders of expeditionary force, and saying Cuzzi's 
 baggage is to be searched. I have now done all I 
 can. In ten days' time I shall send a steamer to 
 Metemma with further information. The attempt 
 to fire the magazine has made me vicious with the 
 people. No one in from Arabs to-clay. Query, 
 ominous 1 
 
 October 4. — The boiler will be put in the new 
 steamer (sister to Abbas) to-day. She will be ready 
 for sea in six days. 
 
 Report from Cassim el Mousse late last night. 
 Arabs say Sheikh el Obeyed meditates an attack on 
 Halfeyeh. The trouble these Shaggyeh have given 
 us is beyond description.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 131 
 
 Ibrahim Bey Ruckdl, loq. Lutraim : " He called 
 for me at (9 p. m.) 3 ! in the night ; he bullied me 
 to work. Can you imagine such a thing ? — it is 
 preposterous. He flew at me like a tiger, because 
 I showed he was unreasonable. It is Bairam, too : 
 can you imagine such a thing ? " 
 
 Awaan, Arabi's clerk, has been telling, in the 
 town, that the letters I got saying, " Her Majesty's 
 troops are advancing," were written by him and 
 sent down, and then returned. There is an evident 
 wish to take off his head ; but I think he is more 
 fool than knave, and shall try and resist the wish of 
 town. 
 
 Saleh Pasha's son telegraphed to me he wanted to 
 come and see me. I answered he might come or go, 
 as he liked. He said, what did I mean by "go?" 
 I was much tempted to say, " Go to your father, 
 who is in chains with Jfahdi" but resisted tempta- 
 tion, and said, "(xo out oj" telegraph station^ 
 
 I had to send down ten barges for those creatures 
 at 10 p. M. last night. (See p. 185.) 
 
 No spies in this morning ; people will begin to 
 believe Awaan's statement, that he it was who wrote 
 the letters (I pretended to have had) from the Eng- 
 lish. 
 
 A woman just in says there is a report with the 
 Arabs that the English are at Dongola ; that a 
 steamer and four nuggars, with English, are at 
 Berber (?) (I expect she has mixed up Stewart's 
 steamer and boats with her story) ; that the Arab 
 chief of Berber has sent for help, which has not yet 
 been sent him.
 
 132 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 One of those lai'ge slic41s was blown up by a boy- 
 treading on it ; it does not appear to have hurt him ; 
 it was in the group of date pahns opposite to the 
 Palace. 
 
 I confess the shells do not seem so very destruc- 
 tive. PerhajDS they are too deeply buried ; however, 
 they have frightened people. 
 
 A small boy and five men escaped from the Arabs 
 and came in. The Mahdi, with Europeans, is at 
 Schatt ; he means to come to Omdurman. They 
 corroborate that some troops went back to Obeyed 
 to put down the rising of tribes. 
 
 The boiler has been successfully put in the small 
 steamer. 
 
 It is odd how quick the blacks, by instinct, know 
 how to avoid the effects of the shells, by throwing 
 themselves on the ground when they hear the fizz 
 of the quick-match ; they all do it, and thus have 
 escaped. Of course it would not do in an assault. 
 The little black chap never ran so fast as he did 
 when he got up after the explosion, never looking 
 behind him. He went to two black sluts, who had 
 been alarmed at the noise, and explained the open- 
 ing of the ground, &c., with a good deal of gestic- 
 ulation. They had a sort of Medgliss ^^ on the 
 subject whether it was not time to return home, and 
 pick no more grass, after such dreadful things had 
 happened, and which ended in their doing so, care- 
 fully avoiding the scene of the accident. 
 
 I expect these improvident people killed over 
 1000 sheep and goats at their Bairam ; the report 
 is that it exceeds that number. 
 
 12 Court of Enquiry. — Ed.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 133 
 
 There is no doubt there will be a fearful famine 
 in this country next year, for there are vast districts 
 lying- desert which were formerly cultivated. 
 
 I'he party which went to Jaila, the villag-e north 
 of Half ey eh which the Arabs had attacked, have 
 come back with the rescued families, and twenty-five 
 cows captured from the so-called rebels. (Query, 
 Who are the rebels, we or the Arabs f) (To-day is 
 the 206th day we have been more or less shut up. 
 Delightful life ! I wonder what Azotus [Ashdod] 
 felt with its twenty-nine years' blockade ?) 
 
 October 5. — Two men and a boy came in from 
 the Arabs, and report that the Mahdi has made a 
 small advance towards Omdurman. Little else of 
 import. They say Hussein Pasha Khalifa, Saleh 
 Pasha, Slatin, and all the Europeans are with the 
 Mahdi ; that Kordofan is in turmoil ; that the Arabs 
 say they will wait till they can collect a lot of men, 
 and then will attack the lines. 
 
 If you do not arrange with the Turks you will 
 not get out of the country for a year, and it will 
 cost you twelve millions, and probably then you will 
 have to fall back on the Turks. ^^ Whereas if you 
 arrange with the Turks you can get oiat in January, 
 and it will cost you seven millions, including the 
 two millions you give the Turks. Truly this black 
 sister " Soudan " has avenged her white sister 
 "Egypt." ^ ^ 
 
 A scorpion in bath sponge this morning. It 
 stung me upon the finger. I murdered it, and so 
 
 i-' This forecast is in a fair way of being fulfilled. — Ed.
 
 134 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 am quits. I wonder whether any analysis has been 
 made of the scorpion's and the cobra's poison. This 
 is the sixth time I have been stung. 
 
 A sheikh of the neighbourhood came in, and says 
 a short time ago a Frenchman came up with two 
 Arabs from Dongola to the Mahdi. The Mahdi 
 could not make it out, and asked why he came? 
 The man said he had come up to salute the Mahdi. 
 The Mahdi being suspicious imprisoned him for 
 seven days, and then let him out. He was in a 
 dervish dress. It is said he spoke to Saleh Pasha 
 and to Slatin in secret, upon which the Mahdi sep- 
 arated these two, and put them in open arrest (is 
 this Rochefort?). My informant says he denied to 
 the Mahdi that the English were in Dongola, but 
 told Slatin and Saleh Pasha that they were there. 
 This man is with the Mahdi now, and is free. It 
 might be Renan,^^ the author of the ' Life of Jesus,' 
 who in his last publication takes leave of the world, 
 and is said to have gone into Africa, not to re-appear 
 again. He was a Roman Catholic priest originally, 
 is a great Arabic scholar, and evidently a very un- 
 happy and restless man. 
 
 I met him once in the rooms of the Royal Geo- 
 graphical Society one afternoon, and I remember 
 the Secretary proposing to him to go up to the top 
 of that high house ! to see the observatory. Renan 
 declined. He looked bored and weary in being 
 made a hero of, and when Sir R. Alcock introduced 
 me to him, I suppose he saw my look of commisera- 
 tion for his trials, and was civil to me. I have often 
 
 1* It seems pretty clear that this is Olivier Pain.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 135 
 
 thought we might meet again. What a fearful 
 infliction hero-worship is to its victim. I think it a 
 great imjaertinence to praise a man to his face. It 
 implies you are his superior, for the greater praises 
 the smaller ; and though that may be the case, it is 
 not necessary to announce it to the smaller. Sup- 
 posing one is wrinkled and grey-haired, it is satire 
 to say you are smooth - skinned, &c., &c., and 
 beautiful, and so it must be with every man who 
 knows himself and who is praised — endurance, self- 
 denial, and twaddle — one would have bolted like a 
 lamplighter if one could, and one could have stood 
 the after criticism. 
 
 ... on going to the trenches before Sevastopol 
 fell out, and said he would not go down. The 
 colonel put him under arrest. He was in a way 
 more plucky to do this than to go to the trenches. 
 Self - sacrifice is that of a nurse — ignored (and 
 " paid," of course, what can she want more !). No 
 one goes into ecstasies over her self-denial. 
 
 If it is Kenan he will not approve of the pepper 
 system. The man says the Mahdi was perfectly 
 astounded at this Frenchman's appearance, and did 
 nothing but question him. "Why do you come 
 here ? " &c., &c. If he comes to the lines, and it 
 is Eenan, I shall go and see him, for, whatever one 
 may think of his unbelief in our Lord, he certainly 
 dared to say what he thought, and he has not 
 changed his creed to save his life. 
 
 A black mother and her two sons have come in, 
 and say the Mahdi is at Jura Hadra, twenty-five 
 miles south of Duem. The woman was delighted
 
 136 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 to see herself in the mirrors, and grinned and 
 smirked at her reflections. 
 
 Spies say Nuehr Bey Angara has been sent back 
 by the Mahdi to Obeyed, to put down the rising of 
 the tribes ; if he would only rise himself, for he is 
 an old friend of mine, the Mahdi would be cut off 
 from Obeyed and be in a bad way. 
 
 The steamer Bordeen is back from Halfeyeh. 
 
 We chose to regard Greece, Spain, Turkey, 
 Mexico, and other lands, as debtors and bankrupts. 
 We did not attempt to saddle the rulers, personally, 
 with the debts of these countries — excepting in the 
 case of Egypt and Ismail Pasha (i. e. we did not 
 turn out the rulers of those states, while we did 
 turn out Ismail), of course it is easy to put it down 
 to his ill-faith. I expect the rulers of those other 
 states were guilty of far worse faith. It is the 
 custom to say we acted in the interests of the 
 oppressed fellaheen, but what have the fellaheen 
 gained up to the present time ? Where are those 
 millions to come from I have talked of? 
 
 Let us consider dispassionately the state of affairs. 
 Does Her Majesty's Government consider they are 
 responsible for the extrication of the Soudan 
 garrisons and Caii-o inhabitants ? We can only 
 judge that Her Majestj^'s Government does recog- 
 nise this responsibility, for otherwise why did they 
 send me up, and why did they relieve Tokar? 
 Once this responsibility is assumed, I see no outlet 
 for it but to relieve the garrisons, coute que coute. 
 It may be said that the object of the present 
 expedition is for my relief personalli/. But how is
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 137 
 
 it possible for me to go away and leave men whom I 
 have egged on to fight for the last six months ? 
 How could I leave after encouraging Sennaar to 
 hold out? No one could possibly wish me to do 
 so. No Government could take the responsibility 
 of so ordering me. There is this difficulty : perhaps 
 it would be patriotic to bolt ; but even if I could get 
 ony mind to do it, I doubt if it is possible to get my 
 hody out of this place. Had Baring said in March, 
 " Shift for yourself as best you can," which he could 
 have done, the affair could have been arranged, and 
 we could have bolted to the Equator ; but, if you 
 look over my telegrams,^'' you will see I ask him what 
 he will do, and he never answered. ^^ The people 
 
 15 Not received from the Government with these Journals. 
 
 16 "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 accepfmy 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, j'ou 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 employes here. 
 
 " In this latter case, 3'our instructions to me had better be that I 
 should evacuate Kartoum, and, with all the employes and troops, remove 
 the seat of government to Berber. You would understand that such a
 
 138 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 had not then endured any privation, and I was, as 
 it were, not much engaged to them ; but now it is 
 different, especially as we have communicated with 
 Sennaar. 
 
 No one can judge the waste of money and ex- 
 pense of life in the present expedition — it is an 
 utter waste of both — but it is simply due to the in- 
 decisions of our Government. Had they said from 
 the first, " We do not care — we will do nothing for 
 the garrisons of the Soudan, they may perish ; " had 
 they not relieved Tokar ; had they not telegraphed 
 to me as to the force to relieve me (vide telegrams, 
 
 step would mean the sacrificing of all outl^'ing 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 employes 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." 
 
 " Kaktoum, March 9, 1884, 11.40 p. M. 
 
 " If the immediate evacuation of Kartoum is determined upon, irre- 
 spective of outlying towns, I would propose to send down all the Cairo 
 employes 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 steam- 
 ers 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 employes and white troops 
 with Stewart from Berber to Dongola, and thence to Wady Haifa. 
 
 "If you, therefore, determine on the immediate evacuation of Kar- 
 toum, this is my idea. If j'ou 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. — Eu.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 139 
 
 5tli May, from Suakin ; 29tli April, from Massowah) ; 
 had they telegi'aphed (when Baring telegraphed 
 to Cnzzi, 29th March, which arrived here saying, 
 " No British troops are coming to Berber, negotia- 
 tions going on about opening road — Graham was 
 about to attack Osman Digna "), " SHIFT FOR 
 YOURSELF,^'' why, nothing could have been 
 said ; but Her Majesty's Government would not say 
 they were going to abandon the garrisons, and there- 
 fore " shift for yourself y It is that which has 
 hampered us so much. On the one hand, if I bolted 
 I deserted them (Her Majesty's Government) ; on 
 the other hand, by staying I have brought about this 
 expedition. Baring gave me distinct orders not to 
 go to the Equator without the permission of Her 
 Majesty's Government (vide telegrams with Stew- 
 art's Journal).^' I do not question the policy of Her 
 Majesty's Government in not keeping the Soudan. 
 It is a wretched country, and not worth keeping. I 
 do not pretend even to jvidge the policy of letting 
 the garrisons, &c., &c., perish ; but I do say, I 
 think that Her Majesty's Government ought to 
 have taken the bold step of speaking out and say- 
 ing, « SHIFT FOR YOURSELF'' in March, 
 when I could have done so, and not now, when I am 
 in honour bound to the people after six months' 
 bothering warfare. Not only did Baring not say, 
 
 1" " 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 Equa- 
 torial 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, iVo. 12, 
 No. 4. — Ed.
 
 140 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 '■^ Shift for yourself^' but he put a veto upon my going 
 to the Equator — vide his telegrams in Stewart's 
 Journal. I say this because no one deplores more 
 the waste of money and life in this expedition, and 
 no one can realise its difficulties better than myself ; 
 but, owing to what has past, owing to indecision, we 
 are in for it, and the only thing now to do is to 
 see how to get out of it, with honour and the least 
 expense jaossible — and I see no other way than by 
 giving the country to the Turks. I am not raising 
 difficulties, or being cantankerous ; I wish most sin- 
 cerely I was out of the place, where from February 
 I have had no peace. The question is how to do so. 
 I may be wrong, but I have a strong suspicion that 
 much rejoicing (^rejoicing perhaps a little for my 
 personal, but a good deal for my official safety) 
 woidd have taken place in official circles had I ap- 
 peared in the Ahhas with Stewart ; but it was not 
 even physically possible, and I should have been 
 a disgraced man for ever had I been able to do 
 so and had done it. Besides which, we were en- 
 tirely in doubt as to the intentions of Her Majesty's 
 Government as to letting the garrisons slide or not. 
 I might have been tried for deserting my post, and 
 for letting the steamers and stores fall into the hands 
 of the Mahdi, for that was certain within five days 
 of my quitting the place. What I suspect or do 
 not suspect would not justify me in my action, and, 
 as it turns out, my suspicions were wrong, for after 
 Stewart left, I hear a British force is coming up — 
 of course it is a query what is it coming up for ? If 
 for the gariHsons, then I have done what the Gov-
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 141 
 
 ernment wants, for I have kept the city ; if for me, 
 then I have done wrong, for I should have come 
 down at all costs ; but in one case great inconven- 
 ience would have been given ; while in the other it 
 is only my life — and if it hfor me the expedition 
 comes, it would be better to tell me, " Shift for your- 
 self ; we do not mean to extricate the garrisons " — 
 in which case perhaps we may find an issue — at any 
 rate the people will know exactly the state of affairs, 
 and our' Government will not be exposed to an un- 
 necessary expense and danger in sending troops up 
 here for ME. I should consider Her Majesty's Gov- 
 ernment were completely exonerated from all re- 
 sponsibility with respect to myself if they sent me 
 that order, " Shift for yourself ; ive do not tnean to 
 extricate the gm^risons,'" I should make my arrange- 
 ments, and (telling the people how I am situated, 
 with no hope of relief for them) should make a 
 bolt to the Equator in six weeks' time. There 
 would be no dishonour in that, for, as I had no re- 
 lief coming, the only sequel of my staying with them 
 would be to be a prisoner with them, and in fact my 
 presence would only exasperate the Arabs instead of 
 being of any good. 
 
 It may be argued, Why not retreat on Berber ? 
 I would rather not do that, for I would wish to show 
 in a jsositive way that I had no part or lot in the 
 abandoning of the garrisons, &c., &c., and, at any 
 rate, I should save the garrisons of the Equator and 
 of the Bahr Gazelle if I succeeded in getting away 
 to them.
 
 142 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 October 6. — The steamer JBordeen up the Blue 
 Nile wasting a lot of ammunition on the Arab for- 
 aging parties. No arsenals could stand this drain 
 on their resources. I expect that the Bordeen fired 
 fifty rounds to-day. 
 
 Three escaped soldiers came in from the Arabs ; 
 they say that the Arabs have sent a Krupp and a 
 mountain gun to Giraffe ; so that may account for 
 the heavy firing above mentioned. One of the men 
 says the Arabs placed two boats in a positron close 
 to the two guns they had brought, in order to entice 
 the steamer to go and take them, thus hoping to 
 sink her. However, I am glad to say the steamer is 
 on her way back. The continual anxiety one is in 
 about these little things is very wearing. One never 
 knows if, through some rash act, I may not lose a 
 steamer, or men may not be cut off. One hac no 
 man like Gessi ^^ whom one can trust for these little 
 expeditions. Steamer Toivfihia went up the White 
 Nile and fired upon the Arabs. It is just as I 
 thought : the Bordeen steamer has come back, hav- 
 ing been struck by a shell about a foot above the 
 water-line, close to the cutwater ; no one was hurt. 
 All the Arabs are going from the White Nile to- 
 wards Giraffe. I expect we shall have the old game 
 at Bourr^ again. In these circumstances you can 
 imagine how very vicious one feels towards Her 
 
 18 Romulus Gessi, who was formerly emploj'-ed as interpreter at the 
 head-quarters of the army before Sevastopol, and who did such excel- 
 lent work against the slave-hunters in the Soudan as General Gordon's 
 lieutenant in 1878. Gessi was subsequentlj' 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.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 143 
 
 Majesty's Intelligence Department for not giving us 
 any news. It is not so much for myself as it is for 
 the townsjDeople.^^ 
 
 The steamer reports that the Arabs had five guns. 
 It is evident the Arabs mean to hold the Blue Nile 
 by their force at Giraffe, and I dare not try to dis- 
 lodge them ; they will then communicate with the 
 Sheikh el Obeyed 's force, and eventually come down 
 upon Shoboloha or thereabouts ; while the Mahdi, 
 coming to Omdurman, will circle us in, a second 
 time. 
 
 Owing to a discovered intrigue and the risk of 
 having too much power in the hands of one man, I 
 have sent Ibrahim Ruckdi to Malia as chief clerk, 
 and Gugliz Bey of Malia is made my chief clerk. 
 Nothing like change of air for these fellows. 
 
 As interesting to Stewart, I will mention the in- 
 trigue. He knows of the letters which came, accus- 
 ing Ibrahim Ruckdi of venality. Well, a Medgliss 
 was held, and Mahomet Bey Agad was found guilty 
 of sending the letters. I did not care to push the 
 matter, for, in my belief, Agad was right in his 
 accusation, although he had no right to write anony- 
 mously. Of course the Medgliss found him guilty, 
 as every Egyptian Medgliss does every one sent be- 
 fore it ; so I temporised and hinted to a third person 
 that it would be well if Ibrahim asked pardon of 
 Agad ; this hint, being of course a sort of order, he 
 took ; but I noticed he was working against Agad ; 
 
 19 General Gordon's chief complaint against the Intelligence Depart- 
 ment 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.
 
 144 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 and yesterday he came with a paper against Hassan 
 Agad the Sandjak, putting it forward as Ferratch 
 Pasha's idea to turn Hassan Agad out. I thought 
 over it, and it worried me, the viciousness of the 
 man ; but I took no action. However, to-day, as I 
 tokl him to write another order about the troops 
 saluting me by stopping in the road and saying he 
 was responsible for it, he said, as he turned away, in 
 an impertinent manner, " Am I Commandant of 
 troops ? " He was brought back, and, nose to grind- 
 stone, was sent to Malia, and Gugliz Bey was brought 
 up to chief clerkship. 
 
 I own I am suspicious, i. e. I judge by the eye, 
 by little signs, &c., for I do not know the language ; 
 but I cannot help thinking I am more often right 
 than wrong with my suspicions. One comes on a 
 group of clerks, heads all together, in the chief 
 clerk's room ; one sees disturbed countenances at 
 once. I cannot help thinking " You are concocting 
 devilry ! " and I look out for some " tricksy 
 
 Another soldier escaped here from the Arabs, 
 and says the Mahdi is at Jura Hadra, and intends 
 coming to Omdurman. He does not appear to think 
 the Arabs care for the English advance, though 
 they know they are at Dongola, " a far cry," they 
 say, to Kartoum. They consider Hicks' defeat was 
 one over the English troops. One thing is good, 
 viz., that the Arabs came down to Giraffe, for if they 
 stay there, when the British do come they will fall 
 easy victims without any long march inland. It 
 certainly does seem astounding that the Arabs seem 
 so confident when a British force is only 150 miles
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 145 
 
 from them, which is the case, for that distance of 
 150 miles alone separates the three steamers from 
 Debbeh, which has a waterway to Dongola, and the 
 place the three steamers are at has a waterway 
 to Kartoum. In reality, with a well-equipped force, 
 Debbeh is not more than eight days' from Kartoum 
 at the outside, saying that the 150 miles were made 
 in six and a half days, which for camels is twenty- 
 five miles a day, very easy marching ; while, from 
 Metemma to this is 100 miles — a day and a half for 
 steamers (when I say Debbeh, I mean Ambukol, to 
 which place from Debbeh you have the open river). 
 The appearance of one British soldier or officer here 
 settles the question of relief vis-a-vis the towns- 
 people, for then they know that I have not told 
 them lies. 
 
 The Arabs fired fourteen rounds at the Bordeen. 
 The shell which entered her was a Krupp ; the hole 
 is now repaired. 
 
 It was an unfortunate remark of Ibrahim Ruckdi, 
 " Am I Commandant of soldiers ? " I had dismissed 
 the thought of changing him, having comforted 
 myself that, one way or another, my tenure of 
 office could not be long up here ; when he said 
 that, it was like a match in powder ; he was brought 
 back, and made then and there to sign his dismissal. 
 I do not think he realised it, even after he had 
 written it. Even to me it was a surprise, for I really 
 had given up all idea of sending him off. 
 
 The sister steamer to the Abbas will be finished, I 
 hope, in four days. She will be called the JIussein, 
 after the head of the dockyard. The other one, 
 
 10
 
 146 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 also a sister steamei*, will be, I hope, finished in six 
 weeks, if we exist that time. Of the two steamers 
 at Berber with Arabs, the Fascher and the Monsu- 
 hania — the latter is reported disabled. 
 
 I have ordered the Bordeen to go on the White 
 Nile on patrol from Kalakla to Shoboloha ; the Is- 
 mailia is at Halfeyeh, the TotofiJcia at Omdurman. 
 
 The Arabs, who went in numbers to Giraffe 
 to-day, went back to their Dem at sunset. 
 
 We have another large steamer, the Chaheen, up 
 in our dry-dock^ which I hope will be soon ready for 
 action. 
 
 A man came in from the Arabs ; he says Seyd 
 Mahomet Osman has sent 300 camels to bring 
 his family from Shendy to Kassala (this is a bad 
 sign) ; he says the English have advanced towards 
 Berber. 
 
 October 7. — Ibrahim Ruckdi has fallen from £60 
 per month to £30. Sixteen soldiers with their arms 
 came in to-day from the Arabs, also one slave ; they 
 had not much to say. Arabs had three guns against 
 the steamer yesterday ; they kept one gun at 
 Giraffe, where they keep small detachments all 
 night. The Arabs pursued the men escaping, and 
 fired a few rounds, but did no harm ; with these 
 men came in four women of theirs, quite a flock. 
 
 I really think the Arabs on the south side keep 
 such a way off because they are afraid of the cap- 
 tured soldiers deserting. The sixteen men who 
 came in were splendid fellows, all nearly six feet ; 
 they say a body of forty others have made up their 
 minds to come in a mass either to-day or to-morrow.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 147 
 
 An Arab of Kartoum came in from Omdurman ; 
 says grass huts are being made for the Mahdi's 
 arrival there ; man says the Arabs report " English 
 and Turkish troops at Debbeh." The Towfihia 
 went up the White Nile ; saw a few Arabs, who 
 fired on her. 
 
 Another soldier has come in — the Arabs will be 
 furious ; he says nine others have made up a party 
 to leave the Arab camp. The Arabs spread reports 
 that I kill all who come in ; but the whole of the 
 soldiers of the Soudan know me of old, and so the 
 reports are not believed. This soldier was at 
 Berberah when last I saw him. I had moved all 
 the black soldiers from there to Senheit, as the 
 climate did not suit them. It is odd that Berberah, 
 Zeila, and Harrar suit the Egyptian and chocolate 
 faces ; not the blacks, who suffer from pulmonary 
 complaints in those parts. 
 
 The sputtering of musketry on the lines this 
 morning quite reminded me of old times. The 
 Arabs fired a good deal at the runaways. 
 
 Some of the officers are very anxious to go out 
 against the Arabs, but I do not see it. We are not 
 safe off the river banks, and there is no good risking 
 matters ; besides which, we can never, with our force, 
 give them a crushing defeat, which will alone settle 
 the question ; and we might, by a small defeat, drive 
 them into the desert, where one could not reach 
 them if other troops come up. We are now thus 
 placed (see Map), and in four days I shall have four 
 steamers between Shoboloha and Kalakla. In a 
 month I hope two more steamers will be ready : total,
 
 148 
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 nine. Arabs have two at Berber, one at Wad el 
 Medinet ; of those at Berber only one is fit for work, 
 the Fascher. 
 
 WletemmaQ 
 
 O Berber 
 Arabs 
 
 Three Steamers 
 
 El foun 
 
 Giraffe 
 Arabs 
 
 I will mention a secret in all Egyptian adminis- 
 trations, i. e. if you give an order, it is totally ineffi- 
 cient in three days' time if not repeated again and 
 again at intervals ; it seems as if its essence evap-
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 149 
 
 orated in the heat of these countries. The officers 
 would laugh you to scorn if you said, " Why, I gave 
 a standing order respecting this or that." It would 
 be to them perfectly ridiculous and absurd to expect 
 a " standing order " to be obeyed, unless repeated at 
 intervals. In most services, standing orders are re- 
 garded, but certainly not in Egypt ; this is the rea- 
 son why all those beautiful proclamations and laws 
 issued by the Control and their successors are dead 
 letters after ten days ; they are constructed for the 
 European Press. What is needed, is continual ham- 
 mering at seeing your orders obeyed. Saleh Pasha 
 sent a man in with a message to me : " Malidi is 
 coming with 40,000 men, etc., etc., etc." This is all 
 rubbish. All Kordofan could not produce this num- 
 ber ; and if it could, the country could not support 
 them in food for five days. 
 
 Fearful row to-night because, after one and a half 
 days' warning, the Bordeen was going to start for 
 Halfeyeh, no soldiers were found on board, and this 
 after repeated orders to Ferratch Pasha. Men may 
 say what they like, but one is bound to lose one's 
 temper in such cases. This is the story Saleh 
 Pasha's man tells: "Mahdi with 40,000 men is 
 coming to Omdurman, and will take it ; he will then 
 plunge into the river and take Kartoum before the 
 English come." I reply that " the Mahdi is not a 
 fool to think that by plunging into the river he will 
 take Kartoum, neither can he have 40,000 men with 
 him. Put Saleh Paslui's messenger into chains as 
 a spy of the enemyy We have spies direct from 
 the Mahdi's camp, who say " he has not 3000 with
 
 150 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 him." This business was going at the same time as 
 my row with Ferratch Pasha — certainly one is not 
 on a bed of roses in this place. 
 
 October 8th. — One soldier, who escaped this morn- 
 ing, reports that the Arabs are furious at the deser- 
 tions of yesterday. Saleh Pasha's messenger (spoken 
 of yesterday), on being put in chains, acknowledges 
 his statement is all fudge about Mahdi's 40,000 
 men, &c., &c. 
 
 A sergeant escaped from the Arabs ; he says the 
 Arabs sent up about 200 black soldiers to Mesala- 
 mieh to get grain, and they escaped to Seunaar; 
 that Waled a Goun meditates coming over, with two 
 guns, to the old Dem, which was previously occupied 
 by the son of Sheikh el Obeyed, on the north side, 
 near Halfeyeh, which, if he does, will be a great 
 bore for us. The Mahdi is at Jura Hadra ; that a 
 man had come from near Berber to say the expedi- 
 tion was advancing towards that place. One has 
 heard so much of this sort of report that taken with 
 the report of Waled a Goun coming to Halfeyeh, one 
 is inclined to doubt it, for he would not be likely to 
 do that if it was true about the expedition at Berber. 
 
 Sent out sjDy from Halfeyeh towards Shendy. 
 
 AVhatever may happen, I hope it will be put to 
 our credit that we gave you the Abbas steamer, and 
 placed three steamers at your disposal at Metemma, 
 — when, if we had them, we might have cut the 
 route between Jura on left bank of the Nile, and 
 Fakir Ibraham on the right bank of the Nile, — be- 
 sides using up 350 soldiers of our meagre garrison
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 151 
 
 in the equipages of those steamers ! Truly the in- 
 decision of our Government has been, from a mili- 
 tary point of view, a very great bore, for we never 
 could act as if independent; there was always the 
 chance of their taking action, which hampered us. 
 
 Take the Tokar business : had Baker been sup- 
 ported by, say, 500 men, he would not have been 
 defeated ; yet, after he was defeated, you go and 
 send a force to relieve the town. Had Baker been 
 supported by these 500 men, he would, in all prob- 
 ability, have been victorious, and would have pushed 
 on to Berber, and, once there, Berber would not have 
 fallen. What was right to do in March, was right 
 to do in February. We sent an expedition in March, 
 so we ought to have sent it in February ; and then, 
 the worst of it was that Baker, having been de- 
 feated, when you did send your expedition to Tokar, 
 Baker's force no longer existed, and his guns resist 
 me at Berber. It is truly deplorable, the waste of 
 men and money, on account of our indecision. 
 Baker's expedition ought never to have been pushed 
 forward, unless by small stages, supported by forts. 
 It had not more than fifteen or twenty miles to go, 
 and that distance ought to be, so to say, sapped. 
 Take your present expedition, I do not know (thanks 
 to that Intelligence Department !^ the details, but 
 it seems to me that till 20th August, or thereabouts, 
 we were supposed to be quietly disposed of, but 
 about that date our resurrection occurred, and then, 
 " Let us have an expedition at once, and send for 
 Wolseley." Had the men at Wady Haifa (Duncan) 
 been told in March (when he came up to Assouan)
 
 152 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 to make Stapes up to Dongola, tlaey would have been 
 all ready for the expedition now. Personally, I do 
 not care, but I think what a perfect mess we would 
 be in, in an European war. I am convinced Wood, 
 the Sirdar, and many others, foresaw what was likely 
 to happen, but they did not consider they were 
 called upon to make a row about it. (Plutarch's 
 Lives are out of print in our generation ; we do not 
 like to be what club men call insubordinate, though, 
 of all insubordinates, the club men are the worst.) 
 What is the consequence ? Why, an infinite expense 
 and great difficulty. Mark the way the Mahdi 
 treated Cuzzi : is it likely he did it for the love of 
 Cuzzi; was it not because Cuzzi told him of Bar- 
 ing's telegram, " that no troops wiU be sent to Ber- 
 ber " ? Remember, though I put these queries, it is 
 not I who put them : it is history. Why did Baker 
 go to Suakin, and Wood, the Sirdar, stay at Cairo ? 
 One was chief of gendarmerie ; the other was com- 
 mander-in-chief. It was not a question of police, 
 but of war. If it was right to let Sinkat perish, it 
 was right to let Tokar ; if it was right to relieve 
 Tokar, it was right to see after Berber, and thence 
 on to Kartoum, Sennaar, Kassala, Bahr Gazelle, and 
 the Equator. At any rate, he consistent. No one 
 can question the right of the Government to decide ; 
 but when they decide, let it be a decision. " We 
 ^viLL ABANDON ALTOGETHEE, and not ccire what 
 happens.^'' That is a decision one can understand, 
 whether one approves or not. We are not the 
 judges ; but what we have done is such, that I de- 
 clare I very much doubt what is really going to be
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 153 
 
 the policy of our Government, even now that the 
 expedition is at Dongola. 
 
 What were my ideas in coming out? They were 
 these : agreed abandonment of Soudan, but extri- 
 cate the garrisons, and these were the instructions 
 of the Govei-nment ; and I only wish that the pub- 
 lic would look over Baring's and my telegrams ex- 
 changed from 28th February to 16th March, and 
 see how he answered me : "^ it was as if I was amus- 
 ing myself up here. And then that light-hearted 
 fellow Egcrton . . . adds to it (" that I am in (Cap- 
 ua) "), " What are your intentions in staying at 
 Kartoum?"^^ I should like to see some explana- 
 tion why no efforts were made for the relief of the 
 garrisons before August (jiot my relief^. Berber 
 was known to have fallen in March ; it may be said 
 the season was not good, then why in June does 
 Egerton tell me to make contracts f I hope Stew- 
 art, will cut out all this biliousness. 
 
 20 General Gordon to Sir E. Baring, March 1st. — " i^e policy. I 
 maintain firmly policy of eventual evacuation, but I tell you plainly it 
 is impossible to get Cairo emploj-^s out of Kartoum unless the Govern- 
 ment helps in the way I told you." — Inclosure 1 in No. 229, No. 12 in 
 Blue Booh No. 12. 
 
 Sir Evelyn Baring replies in a telegram dated March 2nd, 188i : 
 "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 verv difficult to understand exactl}' 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. 
 
 21 Earl Granville to Mr. Egerton, April 23rd, 1884: "Gordon should 
 be at once informed by several messengers . . . that we do not pro- 
 pose to supplj' him with Turkish or other force for the purpose of un- 
 dertaking military expeditions, such being beyond the scope of tlie com- 
 mission 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), Nv. 36. — Eu.
 
 154 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 9 P. M. Telegraph cut with Halfeyeh. This cor- 
 roborates rather what this man who came in to-day 
 said, i. e. that the Arabs meditate coming again to 
 the Dem, north of this town, which will be a trouble 
 — it will be the beginning of a second blockade, 
 and I hope the last, for I declare I do not think I 
 could go through a tliird hlockade — siege is too 
 great a word for it. 
 
 October 9. — Telegraph repaired with Halfeyeh. 
 The Arabs came down on the lines with two guns 
 and exchanged some shots with our people. Only 
 waste of ammunition. 
 
 One soldier escaped from the Arabs to-day. He 
 came from Sheikh el Obeyed. He says they have 
 got the gun which was captured at Katarif. 
 
 The Arabs fired seventeen shells this morning, 
 but did no harm. 
 
 Those Shaggyeh! I will back them to try a 
 man's patience more sorely than any other people in 
 the whole world, yea, and in the Universe. It is no 
 use detailing their efforts. I have now sent Moussa 
 Bey down to Halfeyeh. I really believe that they 
 did try the patience of the Arabs, from all I hear ; 
 for the Arabs frequently thought of putting them to 
 the sword, and I can quite imagine Arabs having 
 this thought, from the wear and tear they have 
 given me. 
 
 Of course, the officer on the lines reports masses 
 of Arabs killed to-day. 
 
 Sheikh el Obeyed killed all the prisoners he took 
 (who were inhabitants of Kartoum) in Mahomet
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 155 
 
 All's defeat, near El foun. I Lave ordered the sale 
 of 200 ardebs of grain, do one to buy more than ^ 
 ardeb. 
 
 Stewart will be annoyed at hearing " Ibrahim 
 Ruckdi is very ill ! ! ! ! " Illness dates from hour 
 of being turned out of head clerk's place ; he has 
 not sent for the doctor. 
 
 It will be a satisfaction for some to know that, ow- 
 ing to their not sending me any news, I am exposed 
 to hearing all sorts of disquieting rumours from the 
 town, which, though I do not mind them, are not 
 destined to make one's life lighter. The Ulemas 
 have been coming here for two days to see me ; they 
 have been bothering for more grain, and so I put ofp 
 seeing them, but I gave them one ardeb a piece. To- 
 day, however, they pushed an interview, but I still 
 held out, and said they must tell my Vakeel what 
 they had to say. After a deal of palaver my Vakeel 
 came in to say, " that the whole of the toion re- 
 quested I would take hack Ihrahhn Ruckdi. " What 
 an idea ! I said " The town had better mind their 
 own business, and leave me to mind mine ." I think 
 it is lovely! and how Ruckdi must have worked at 
 it during his severe illness. Ruckdi had got at my 
 servants. Edrees, the butler, told me, with a look of 
 deepest commiseration, how ill Ruckdi was, on which 
 I laughed. I guessed he was on the sick list, and 
 had asked. " Yes " (with a deep sigh), " Ruckdi was 
 very ill.''^ "Illness commenced when?" I asked. 
 " Oh, a long time back, but duty and fidelity to me 
 had enabled him to crawl through his work," at 
 which I laughed again. Then came the Ulemas, with
 
 156 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 the town petition. I can quite imagine when men 
 have bribed the chief clerk A. to be favourable, that 
 it is a bother to have to go through the same process 
 with chief clerk B. on A.'s being turned out ; it up- 
 sets all calculations. Ruckdi will return to Cairo 
 with Tongi. 
 
 " See-saw,22 see-saw, why it is enough to kill a fel- 
 low. I can't keep my eyes open. I would give a 
 shilling to have an hour's sleep ! l^es, of course, 
 you say it is close at hand, you hlach devil ! " " I 
 know your Kareh means at least three hours more." 
 " Give you the water-bottle ? I can't. I don't dare 
 to touch the rope of this long-necked brute. Hullo : 
 there is some one come a crojaper. Rifle ' broken ? ' 
 Of course it is ; you cannot fall from a precipice with- 
 out its being broken." " Hi ! stop ! Catch hold of 
 the brute ; the machuf at , as you call it, is slipping 
 round. Can't you stop the brute (noise of a body 
 falling) ; well, there is an end of it. I wiU walk 
 now sooner than embark again on the ship of the 
 desert. Am I hurt ? Oh, no, of course not ; rather 
 enjoyed sensation. Walks half a mile, boots fidl of 
 sand, and tries it again. " — Scene in Desert : Ex- 
 plorations in Central Africa, by Her Majesty's Army. 
 
 The machufats^'^ will slip forward, and camels 
 will object to people riding on their long necks ; 
 they will drop vesuvians on camels, who will not like 
 it ; they loill get galled, and have not glycerine ; they 
 will drop their i)ipes, and not dare to descend for 
 
 22 Supposed remarks of British soldiers crossing the desert upon 
 camels. 
 
 23 Saddles. — Ed.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 157 
 
 them ; they loill pass baggage-camel with sharp edged 
 boxes, which will rasp their legs ; as they momit they 
 will go over the other side and swear — oh, how they 
 will swear ! all their Topics will be crushed — aches 
 and pains in every part of the body (I should be in- 
 clined to put them on ambulance saddles, one on 
 each side : awkward if they meet a baggage cara- 
 van). "Tired and ill! of course I am tired and ill 
 after bowing and swaying my body to and fro all 
 night, with my eyes pricking like as from so many 
 needles, from desire to sleep ; and you may say what 
 you like, I swear I saw more than one of those skel- 
 eton camels get up, and I saw houses as plain as 1 
 see you.^* I was between Scylla and Charybdis. I 
 wanted to sleep, and I was afraid of falling off — 
 shall never forget it." 
 
 " Chermside to Kitchener : Any news of khn f " 
 
 " Kitchener to Chermside : Nothing particular ; 
 two or three more men down. Steamers at Me- 
 terama. Abuse as usual of Intelligence Department. 
 Mahdi doing much better : he finds it more difficult 
 to get his letters through, and will have time to get 
 over his liver complaint and injustices. Stewart 
 says it was a perfect pandemonium to be boxed up 
 with him when in his tantrums. / hojje you are 
 well. Let me hnoio if I can do anything for you^ 
 
 I think, in the interests of the Telegraph Depart- 
 ment, Floyer ought to make officers pay for tele- 
 grams like this intercepted one. 
 
 A man came in from the Arabs on the South 
 
 2^ Allusion to images produced on the retina by an excited or ex- 
 hausted brain. — Ed.
 
 158 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 Front. He says the Arabs have imprisoned the reg- 
 ular troops with them ; that the regulars want to 
 make a rush for our lines and to escape to us. 
 
 A boy came in four days absent from the Mahdi's 
 camp, which is at a place opposite Gitana. He says 
 the Mahdi is moving along the left bank towards 
 Omdurman, and that he has with him all the Eu- 
 ropeans, Elias Pasha, and Slatin ; that he will try 
 and take the place before the advance of the English, 
 who are said to be near Berber. Kordofan is quiet. 
 The Mahdi has about three to four thousand with 
 him. The Mahdi says he will cross the river dry- 
 foot — by a miracle. 
 
 Sent for the Jsmailia from Halfeyeh, replacing her 
 by the Towfikia. The Bordeen, down the river, will 
 go to the same place on her return. Somehow this 
 advance of the Mahdi has raised my spirits ; noth- 
 ing is more dead-like than to be shut up as we have 
 been ; now, at any rate, a month will see him victo- 
 rious or defeated, as God may will it. I think he 
 will try and negotiate, for, of course, Hussein Pasha 
 Khalifa has told him I had a firman enabling me 
 to give up the country if I found some one to take it. 
 
 " Kitchener to Chermside. — Hurrah ! Capital 
 news ! The Mahdi has him on the hip ! he has gone 
 to Omdurman. Bottled him up now ! We will 
 have no more impertinent remarks about the Intel- 
 ligence Department. ' Dongola illuminated ! Regu- 
 lar feast of lanterns ! Wish you were here, old fel- 
 low; hope you are well! Can I," &c., &c. 
 
 I declare Floyer ought to make them pay for these 
 telegrams — intercepted and brought here.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 159 
 
 ..." Well after a long night comes the dawn, 
 this is somewhat better news. I confess I was never 
 much taken up with Livingstone's explorations, and 
 I never would have believed any one, if he had told 
 me I should be carrying out these explorations with 
 a British army. One must not be ungrateful, but 
 one may be permitted the remark why that Mahdi 
 did not move before he has quite spoilt my holiday ; 
 why, dear me, in three months I shall be back in 
 that bear-baiting garden again, being asked ques- 
 tions. What a life! What do you say? I am 
 sacrificing myself for my country. Well, you are 
 right there, 1 am a martyr, if ever thei-e was one." 
 
 The mass of people who have come in from the 
 Arabs have spread far and wide, — what is to be 
 expected from the Mahdi and his Government — so 
 I have no fear for the town, which I suppose has 
 40,000 inhabitants in it. 
 
 The Arabs prevent all coming to me — I prevent 
 none going to them — and I even give them written 
 permissions to go ; so I gauge the fidelity of the 
 people. 
 
 Small steamer got her steam up to-day, and I 
 hope will be finished in three days, armed and in 
 action. 
 
 I feel sure that the Mahdi comes with the idea of 
 negotiating ; if so, and one can have reasonable hope 
 of success as to the extrication of the garrisons, I 
 shall negotiate — for up to the present time, my 
 original instructions are not abrogated, and I feel 
 sure Her Majesty's Government will not wish any 
 longer campaign than is necessary, in these parts,
 
 160 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 for their honour ; but it must be remembered if, by 
 negotiating, I get out the garrisons at the cost of 
 the steamers, &c., &c., I must not be blamed if in 
 the future, by the cession of the steamers and warlike 
 material, Egypt suffers. Her Majesty's Government 
 gave me clear orders, i. e. " get out garrisons and 
 evacuate" — these orders have not been cancelled 
 and are in force. No official notice is given me of 
 an advance of troops or of a change of policy ; there- 
 fore I am justified in acting on my original instruc- 
 tions. Kitchener's note is not sufficient to justify 
 me in disobeying my regular instructions. Eger- 
 ton's telegram was not decipherable. 
 
 Octoher 10. — The beginning of the year 1302 of 
 the Arabs is on the 21st October. On the 1st, 2nd, 
 and 3rd October were Hicks' defeats. The Mahdi, 
 bringing all the Europeans with him, makes his 
 move look as if he were confident of his success 
 ultimately. All information tends to show that his 
 object is to starve us out. If the man would only 
 drop, his prophet's functions, we might come to 
 terms ; but he will never do that, I fear. There is 
 one good thing in the Mahdi's coming here — he 
 will be easy of access, if our Government wishes to 
 communicate with him ; and also if he is defeated 
 there is an end of him, without going to Kordofan« 
 I suppose our people at Debbeh must be aware of 
 the whereabouts of the Mahdi at any rate. 
 
 It is an odd coincidence the advance of the Mahdi 
 and of the expeditionary force at the same time, and 
 to the same place (Armageddon).
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 161 
 
 I have 240 men at Omdurman, and it is pretty- 
 strong. It is not likely to be attacked ; for if the 
 Mahdi won it, he would not have gained Kartoum, 
 though it would be a trouble, as it would discourage 
 the people. 
 
 There is one bother, in any negotiations (which, 
 however, I do not think possible), viz. how far one 
 ought to go in re the steamers, and warlike store. 
 If I had Zubair here it might be settled, but now 
 the expedition is at Dongola it is a query what 
 ought to be done. 
 
 I have lost seven guns, two on board each steamer, 
 at Metemma, and one on board the Abbas. 
 
 This morning the Arabs fired six Krupp shells 
 into the lines, which did not burst. 
 
 Not a large church parade either at Kalakla, 
 South Front, or at Faki Mustapha, near Omdur- 
 man. Two men came in, one from South Front with 
 rifle, and one from Omdurman ; the latter says the 
 Mahdi will come to Omdurman either to-day or to- 
 morrow, and will content himself with the invest- 
 ment of the place. He has with him all the Euro- 
 peans, nuns and all. The Arabs meditate coming 
 over to the old Dem, near Halfeyeh, but they say it 
 wiU be the Arabs of Waled a Goun who will come, 
 not those of the Sheikh el Obeyed ; this is odd, and 
 it would seem as if these two parties Jiad fallen out. 
 We know Sheikh el Obeyed did not agree with 
 Abou Gugliz. 
 
 People do not appear a bit put out at the ap- 
 proach of the Mahdi ; in fact they look on it as a 
 good thing, for they say the affair will be ended 
 11
 
 162 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 here, and there will -.be no necessity to go to Kor- 
 dofan. 
 
 A very little Arab boy, with large, black, limpid 
 eyes, came in from the Arabs. He had been cap- 
 tured some months ago. 
 
 The steamer Bordeen is still down the river, rob- 
 bing, I expect, right and left. 
 
 A Sandjak of Shaggyeh, who was for months a 
 prisoner with Sheikh Ibrahim (son of Shiekh el 
 Obeyed), told me how this latter used to quarrel 
 with Abou Gugliz ; how the latter had taken the gun 
 they had captured from us ; and how glad Sheikh 
 Ibrahim was when we beat Abou Gugliz at Giraffe. 
 On one occasion Abou Gugliz put Sheikh Ibrahim 
 in chains. 
 
 Four of the Arab Krupp shells fell in the centre 
 of the town — did no harm — (regular bombard- 
 ment of Paris), moral effect, nil. 
 
 Little steamer Hiisseinyeh trial trip to-morrow. 
 The Arabs will thiuk one of the large steamers has 
 been brought to bed. 
 
 One cannot help being amused at the Mahdi's 
 carrying all the Europeans about with him — nuns, 
 priests, Greeks, Austrian officers — what a medley, 
 a regular Etat major. It will be a great crow for 
 Lord Wolseley if he manages to put an extingmisher 
 on the Mahdi. 
 
 Cambyses, son of Cyrus of Isaiah, lost his army 
 B. c. 525, in these deserts, 2409 years ago. 
 
 The Mussulman year 1302 begins on the anniver- 
 sary of Trafalgar. " England expects " (does not 
 say even "thank you ") " you will do your duty."
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 163 
 
 Those who were ever quartered at Gibraltar will 
 remember two despatches over the miantelpiece, Col- 
 lingwood's on Trafalgar ; Wellington on Waterloo. 
 What a different tone in them. I cannot help think- 
 ing the navy is more chivalrous than the army in 
 all nations ; they are more seriously minded, having 
 gone through greater vicissitudes of danger. I no- 
 ticed flags around Faki Mustapha's tent, and three 
 women came in this evening from Waled a Goun's 
 camp, and report that the Madhi came to Omdur- 
 man to-day ; but a soldier who escaped with his rifle 
 came in afterwards and said the Mahdi had not yet 
 come to Omdurman, but was expected to-morrow. 
 
 In five days' time I shall send down the Towfikia 
 steamer to Metemma, and order the Talataiveen 
 back. With the Toiofikia I shall send this journal 
 up to date. The Towfikia will stay at Metemma. 
 
 I have placed two of the castled santels at the 
 end of the lines on the White Nile, the other two 
 are at Bourr^. The Bordeen steamer is back from 
 Shoboloha ; she captured fifteen cows and four slaves. 
 She was fired on from the left bank of the Nile. 
 
 Armed the men of the band and made them body 
 guard of Ferratch Pasha. 
 
 In future, for the defence of Kartoimi, strong 
 forts ought to be built at Shoboloha, on both sides 
 of the defile. 
 
 The Bordeen telegraphed from Half eyeh, " Impor- 
 tant spy captured." I answered, " What did impor- 
 tant spy say?" I was answered, "Important spy 
 said that the English had sent out three men to see 
 about roads to Kartoum." This was two and a half
 
 164 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 hours' work to get this information. It is enough 
 to drive one wild (a very small mouse for such a 
 mountain). Couriers were sent on horses to and 
 fro for this information. I am going to sit on the 
 captain of the Bordeen to-morrow. These people, if 
 they have a grain of information which they (not I) 
 think important, make a perfect Mont Blanc of it, 
 so as to get promotion. What on earth of impor- 
 tance is it to us whether the British general has 
 sent 150 spies to look after roads. 
 
 The captain of the Bordeen gave the names of 
 the spies sent out by the British general obtained 
 from this " important spy," thinking, of course, I 
 should be delighted. These things render one per- 
 fectly furious, for, at least, twenty people were kept 
 at work for absolutely nothing; and like a born 
 idiot, there was 1, on tiptoe of excitement, waiting 
 information of the " important spy," to end with 
 the news that " three men had been sent out by the 
 British general." Had " this important spy " said 
 the British general had started, it would have been 
 another thing, but that is in the future, and I do 
 not blame the British general for not rushing head- 
 long into these deserts. 
 
 Octoher W. — A sergeant-major came in at Om- 
 durman to-day ; he left the Mahdi three days ago. 
 The Mahdi was then one day's march from Omdur- 
 man, at the place Stewart met the chiefs when he 
 went up the Nile in March. The Mahdi will be at 
 the camp Faki Mustapha to-night or to-morrow. He 
 has from 2000 to 3000 regulars with him, whom he
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 165 
 
 captured here and there. Three Krupp guns and 
 four mountain guns, but has a lot more mountain 
 guns en route from Kordofan. With the Mahdi are 
 Hussein Pasha Khalifa, Saleh Pasha, Slatin, and all 
 the Greeks, priests, and nuns, who have become 
 Muslim. A priest and a nun who refused to become 
 Muslim, he left in Obeyed. Nuchranza is with him. 
 He has a mixed multitude with him, who are not 
 over zealous, for he has discontented the people by 
 his exactions. They have plenty of meat, but not 
 much grain. The Frenchman spoken of (and sup- 
 posed to be Renan by me) has gone away from the 
 Mahdi. Fighting is going on in Kordofan in the 
 Gebel Nubar. Report is rife of the English being 
 at Debbeh. The Mahdi intends bombarding Kar- 
 toum from the other side, and trying to demolish 
 the fort Omdurman. The money captured at Ber- 
 ber has not yet left Berber. 
 
 Another soldier came in from Waled a Goun's 
 camp ; he says the regulars are all in chains. 
 
 The Arabs are making a fort 2000 yards off the 
 South Front. They fired eight rounds from a Krupp, 
 which entered the town but did no harm. 
 
 Four shells entered the town yesterday — one 
 slightly wounded five black sluts, one struck a house 
 belonging to the family of the Mahdi. 
 
 Small steamer's trial trip took place to-day — a 
 great success ; she snorts terribly. 
 
 Two more soldiers came in this morning from the 
 Sheikh el Obeyed. They say he intends coming to 
 the old Dem off the North Front, where they were 
 before. They say he is not on the best of terms
 
 166 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 with Waled a Goun. I hope sincerely he will not 
 come opposite to us. 
 
 Sent out two men separately to Debbeh, with noti- 
 fication of the arrival of his holiness the Mahdi at 
 Omdurman. 
 
 Connected the fort of Halfeyeh by telegraph to 
 river bank, 1500 yards. 
 
 Moussa Bey put in charge of the Bordeen and 
 Ismailia, and Omdurman and Mogrim. 
 
 Ferratch Pasha is made a Ferile (General of Di- 
 vision). I am more generous than Her Majesty's 
 Government (when a colonel, I used to make Gen- 
 erals of Division. The Khedive used to tear his 
 hair over it). It may be that Ferratch Pasha may 
 be sold for $2\ in a fortnight, if the town is taken, 
 and be carrying water for one of the Mahdi's Ameers. 
 I must say I am against doctors. If a man is suffer- 
 ing intense pain, and is in a more or less desperate 
 condition, I would give as much morphine as would 
 still that pain. It was the custom of the ancients 
 to give to those who were to be crucified a numbing 
 potion, which is that mentioned in Matt, xxvii. 34, 
 Mark xv. 23. Our Lord would not abate, by mortal 
 means, the slightest pang of his passion, and He 
 would not taste it. But in our Lord's case He knew 
 the object of giving Him this potion, whereas a pa- 
 tient need not know it. Our doctors give a compos- 
 ing draught to produce sleep, and I cannot see why 
 they stop at that and do not give a draught to pro- 
 duce insensibility to pain — but I suppose they have 
 rules we know not of. Napoleon at Jaffa asked the 
 principal medical officer a question — whether, with
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 167 
 
 respect to the plague patients (whom he could not 
 take with him in his retreat to Egypt, and they 
 would have had their throats cut had they stayed) 
 it would not be justifiable to give them composing 
 draughts. The principal medical officer answered, 
 " his business was to cure, not to kill." Now Napo- 
 leon did not say " do so," but he merely asked the 
 question, inasmuch as it was certain that the throats 
 of those patients would be cut by the Turks if they 
 were left behind. History disputes whether Napo- 
 leon did not get another doctor to give the compos- 
 ing draughts, but it is certain that the plague-stricken 
 patients were killed by the Turks (whether under 
 the influence of composing draughts or not it does 
 not much signify). To my mind the principal 
 medical officer was a snob, and took advantage of 
 Napoleon's question to make himself a hero. Napo- 
 leon alluded to it afterwards at St. Helena, and I 
 am inclined to believe his version, viz. that he only 
 put the alternative question to the principal medical 
 officer, and did not order the giving of the composing 
 draught. I shall now conclude this Volume III. I 
 have sent 200 men to Omdurman, and am prepared 
 to evacuate Halfeyeh and place its garrison at Goba, 
 if the Sheikh el Obeyed moves to the north of this 
 
 place. 
 
 C. G. Gordon. 
 
 12 — 10 — 84.
 
 BOOK IV.
 
 On outside icrapper (a handkerchief) : 
 No secrets as far as I am concerned. 
 
 C. G. GORDON. 
 Lt. -Colonel Stewart, C. M. G., 
 Chief of the Staff, or Lord Wolseley, G. C. B. 
 Soudan Expeditionary Force. 
 
 Journal of E\'ents — K artoum, Vol. IV. 
 From 12th Oct. to 20th Oct., 1884. 
 
 General Gordon's Journal 
 EVENTS AT KARTOUM. 
 
 From 12th Oct. to 20th Oct., 1884. 
 To be pruned down, if published. 
 
 C. G. GORDON. 
 
 The follo-\ving note accompanied this Journal, addressed to 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Stewart : — 
 
 Kartoum, 20th October, 1884. 
 My dear Stewart, 
 
 Here is the Journal up to date — not much in it. I hear 
 you got down all right. Kind regards to Lord Wolseley. I 
 have given up now all idea of getting information from you 
 all. Yours sincerely, 
 
 C. G. GORDON. 
 
 On inside sheet : 
 
 General Gordon's Journal, Vol. IV. 
 
 From 12th Oct. to 20th Oct. 1884. 
 
 EVENTS OF KARTOLT^I. 
 
 Together with a paper, Intelligence Department, on 
 
 False Prophet.^ 
 
 To be pruned down, if published. 
 
 C. G. GORDON. 
 1 See Appendix, "The Insurrection of the False Prophet."
 
 JOURNAL. 
 
 October 12. — Post left for Metemma by Tovifikia 
 to-day. I am almost decided to evacuate Ilalfeyeli, 
 and put Sliaggyeh, now there, at Goba.^ I dug up 
 a shell yesterday which was at the foot of a lay fig- 
 ure at north side, and see that the reason of their 
 (the shells) not proving fatal is that they are buried 
 too deep, and their force is expended laterally — a 
 man must be over them to be hurt. Of course this 
 would be remedied in regular warfare. Were I to 
 put them out again, I would lay the shells on the 
 surface of the ground, hiding the fuses or ignitors, 
 and run the risk of their being seen. Men going to 
 assault a place do not pick their steps, as if they 
 were crossing a street. I have ordered the concen- 
 tration of guns on part of lines opposite to which 
 Arabs bombard us. 1 have ordered silence for the 
 two or three first rounds of the Arabs, and then to 
 give them some salvoes. 
 
 What with these people's prayers, eating and 
 sleeping, one's patience is indeed tried. I know no 
 people in the world who can take advantage of cover 
 better than them — the cover being "/ am ill;'''' 
 that is a settler ; for although you know it is the 
 
 1 Goba is on fhe right bank of the Blue Nile, to the north of Tuti 
 Island, and within two miles of Kartoum. — Ed.
 
 172 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 illness of laziness, you can say nothing ; if you 
 doubt it, you are universally voted a brute. 
 
 When you say to any escaped soldier, " Why do 
 you come here ? " he replies, " Why, the Arabs give 
 us nothing. Why, with you I can get this or that." 
 It is merely a question of what they can get. The 
 belly governs the whole world. 
 
 Have ordered the Bordeen steamer to creep up 
 when the moon rises, and attack the Arab ferry at 
 Kalakla. 
 
 Went over to Goba, and chose positions for the 
 Shaggeyeh tribe. If we evacuate Halfeyeh, we shall 
 have to give uj) three outer forts, and one central 
 one (Seyd Mahomet Osman's house). 
 
 It is quite a danger to pass through the yard of 
 the Palace on account of the turkey-cock (though 
 he has a harem of five) ; he killed two of his chil- 
 dren the other day. I do not know if you have no- 
 ticed it, but when not angry, or in full dress, the 
 lobes of flesh about their necks are grey ; but it 
 does not need half a minute for them to make them 
 of the most brilliant scarlet. > I cannot understand 
 how they make part of their heads blue, while the 
 appendages are scarlet. I think the turkey-cock is 
 a bird worth studying ; the tuft in front is peculiar 
 to him alone. I know no other bird which has it. 
 I would give him the palm over all birds for pluck. 
 
 I have decided to bring those wretched Shaggyeh 
 over to Goba, and have sent boats for them.^ 
 
 I declare solemnly, that if it were not for the 
 honour's sake of our nation, I would let these people 
 
 2 See p. 131.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 173 
 
 slide ; tliey are of the very feeblest nature, and the 
 Arabs are ten times better ; but because they are 
 weak, there is so much more the reason to try and 
 help them ; for I think it was because we were such 
 worthless creatures, that Our Lord came to deliver 
 us. These Shaggyeh know no shame. It is an un- 
 known quantity with them. What a life one has to 
 live. I wish I commanded the Arabs (speaking 
 professionally). I think it is a great shame not 
 giving me Zubair Pasha, for he would know how to 
 deal with these people. They are the weariness of 
 my life. From February until now they have been 
 one continued worry to me, and I expect they wor- 
 ried the Arabs as much. 
 
 I have decided to put the Shaggyeh Into the North 
 Fort, and not to occupy Goba. A slave came in 
 from Merowe ; had no news. The Arabs did not 
 fire upon the lines to-day, so concentration of artil- 
 lery fire on them did not come off. A woman came 
 into the lines from Waled a Goun with a letter.^ 
 The Towfikia was to have left this morning ; but 
 late last night, happening to go to the telegraph of- 
 fice, and asking whether she was all ready ? the cap- 
 tain replied he had no wood ! so there was an end of 
 her start to-day. 
 
 I particularly wish to ascertain how many commu- 
 nications were sent me from Cairo or elsewhere in 
 Egypt between the 12th of March, when the tele- 
 gTaph wire was cut, and the present date.^ I hope 
 Stewart will get this information for me, and not be 
 
 2 Appendix P. 
 
 * It would be interesting if some Member of Parliament would ask 
 Her Majesty's Government for informatioa on this subject — Ed.
 
 174 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 hoodwinked about it. I sliould also much like the 
 substance of those communications. 
 
 The letter was from Abou Gugliz ^ sending in a 
 woman who had before been a spy. He begs me to 
 become a Mussulman, &c. The woman who brought 
 it says the Mahdi comes to-night to Omdurman, and 
 that he says, as soon as he comes, / shall ask to sur- 
 render? The Mahdi says he will write me three 
 letters ; he will then wait for five days, and that he 
 will then advance across the river, which will divide 
 for him. Looking at the date which will be arrived 
 at, after these letters are written and the five days' 
 grace have expired, and making allowances for what 
 is meant by the dividing of the waters, it would 
 bring the Mahdi's attack about the 21st October, the 
 New Year's day of 1302 a. h. 
 
 We hear the Arabs are perplexed, because the 
 other day, when they bombarded us, we did not an- 
 swer. This was my doing to save ammunition. The 
 Arabs asked the regulars with them, " Why we did 
 not answer ? " and said they were sure the regulars 
 were in communication with us. We are now weigh- 
 ing the pros and cons for not answering the artillery 
 fire of the Arabs, which does us no harm and uses up 
 their ammunition. By not doing so we do not lose 
 the sympathies of the regulars, whereas if we do so 
 we exasperate and render desjoerate those regulars. 
 We had an instance of that at Bourre, where at first 
 the regulars were well disposed towards us, and came 
 over in numbers ; whereas after we had killed a lot 
 of them they ceased to come in, and used to fight 
 us with viciousness. 
 
 5 Appendix P.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 175 
 
 The woman says, beyond the captured regulars, 
 Arabs have no fighting force. These captured reg- 
 ulars are mostly all blacks. 
 
 Another ^;/o^ ? In town a man was discovered 
 taking out a note couched in mysterious language 
 from one of the clerks in a Government office. 
 With the note was £34, supposed to be a present to 
 the Mahdi from Sheildi el Islam (the blind man) 
 here. The efforts to square the circle are extraordi- 
 nary. The people here, I expect, have all hedged. 
 I am going to make a sort of general arrest to-night 
 (similar to that made by Napoleon III. on the night 
 of the 1st December) of all who are supposed to be 
 in communication with the Mahdi. I shall not hurt 
 them, but shall send them out to the Mahdi. (Query, 
 was it on the night of the lst-2nd December Na- 
 poleon took his foes j^risoners, or on the night of the 
 2nd -3rd December? I think it was the night of 
 the lst-2nd December, and the so-called massacre 
 happened during the day of the 2nd December.) 
 ( Vide Kinglake in ' Coup d'etat.') 
 
 I shall not send out the Sheikh el Islam ^ al- 
 though he is a disgrace. I asked Mahomet Edrees, 
 my servant, " to become a Christian." He said " he 
 could not." Then I said, " Why ask me to become 
 a Mussulman, when your Sheikh el Islam is pre- 
 pared to acknowledge Mahomet Achmet as the 
 Mahdi ? " 5 p. M. — The arrests are out. Sheikh 
 el Islam, Cadi, and a host of swells are to be kept 
 in their homes — sixteen in all ! A good swoop ; 
 among them the Mudir Achmet Bey Jelaba. I have 
 
 6 /. e., the priest. — Ed.
 
 176 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 made Moussa Bey Mudir. There will be quite a 
 scare about it. I have not sent any away to the 
 Mahdi. The band boys are all armed, and are quite 
 ferocious. It would be a great mistake to come up 
 here and think to find soldiers in extremis ; they are 
 as cocky as possible. They strut along as if no one 
 was their equal. The blacks are a stubborn race ; 
 and if one sticks to them, they will stick to you. 
 The Towfihia has left for Metemma at last. 
 
 A mouse has taken Stewart's place at table ; she 
 (judging from her swelled-out appearance) comes up 
 and eats out of my plate without fear. 
 
 The turkey-cock has become so disagreeable that 
 I had to put his head under his wing and sway him 
 to and fro till he slept. The cavasses thought he 
 was dead, but he got up and immediately went at 
 me. The putting the head under the wing acts with 
 all birds, but it is the coch alone who gets mesmer- 
 ised by the chalk lines drawn in front of his beak. 
 How do you account for this ? 
 
 I believe that a good recruitment of blacks and 
 Chinese would give England all the troops she wants 
 for expeditions, mixed with one-sixth English. As 
 for those wretched Sepoys, they are useless. I would 
 garrison India with Chinese and blacks, with one- 
 sixth English, and no army could stand against us. 
 The Chinese in Shanghai had the greatest contempt 
 for the Bombay Sepoys, and used to knock them 
 about. Beloochees and Sikhs are a different class. 
 I have the greatest contempt for the pure Indian 
 Sepoys. Chinese, or blacks, or Goorkas, or Beloo- 
 chees are far better. The moment he (the pure
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 177 
 
 Sepoy) is off parade, he puts off all uniform that 
 connects him with Her Majesty's Government, and 
 puts on his dish-clout. I hate these snake-like crea- 
 tures. Any man accustomed to judge by faces sees 
 that they hate us. 
 
 I would back the Mussulmans of India against the 
 lot of those snakes. India, to me, is not an advan- 
 tage ; it accustoms our men to a style of life which 
 they cannot keep up in England ; it deteriorates our 
 women. If we keep the sea-coast, it is all that we 
 want. It is the centre of all petty intrigue, while if 
 our energy were devoted elsewhere, it would produce 
 tenfold. India sways all our policy to our detri- 
 ment. Lord Cardwell replied (when I asked him 
 the question as to the benefit we got from India), 
 " that toe could not get out of it," and I suppose 
 that is the answer that must be given. 
 
 October 13. — Cavalry sortie this morning from 
 Bourre ; captured fifteen slaves and killed thirteen 
 men who resisted. This sortie was under Abdoul 
 Hamid, the Sandjak of the Shaggyeh. We lost 
 none. 
 
 The Arabs on Omdurman side have spread out 
 their huts in a semicircle (but at a considerable dis- 
 tance) around Omdurman, on the left bank. 
 
 Shaggyeh from Halfeyeh will be in the North Fort 
 to-day. The Arabs off South Front, near the White 
 Nile, fired musketry against the lines, but did no 
 harm. 
 
 Last night cavalry Shaggyeh captured three men 
 who were going off to Sheikh el Obeyed from Hal- 
 
 12
 
 178 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 feyeh ; they had their arms with them. I have let 
 them go again. 
 
 No definite news yet of the arrival of the Mahdi 
 at Omdurman. The Mahdi will be furious with this 
 cavalry sortie ; it will be disagreeable news to him 
 on his arrival here. 
 
 A man from the Arabs has come in to Omdurman 
 with two letters ; " it is too late to see them to-night. 
 By telegraph I hear that the man brought two let- 
 ters for the Commandant at Omdurman from Faki 
 Mustapha, saying the Mahdi was coming the day 
 after to-morrow, and inviting him to submit ; so I 
 have told them to send the man off again. 
 
 We are a wonderful people ; it was never our 
 Government which made us a great nation ; our 
 Government has been ever the drag on our wheels. 
 It is, of course, on the cards that Kartoum is taken 
 under the nose of the expeditionary force, which will 
 he just too late? 
 
 The expeditionary force will perhaps think it neces- 
 sary to retake it ; bvit that will be of no use, and will 
 cause loss of life uselessly on both sides. It had far 
 better quietly return, with its tail between its legs ; 
 for once Kartoum is taken, it matters little if the 
 Opposition say " You gave up Kartoum," or " You 
 gave up Kartoum, Sennaar," &c., &c. ; the sun will 
 have set, people will not care much for the satellites. 
 England was made by adventurers, not by its Gov- 
 
 "' Appendix Q. 
 
 8 jMany of General Gordon's "instincts" have been no less remark- 
 able 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 instruc- 
 tions, but feel convinced I shall be caught in Kartoum." ^Ep.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 179 
 
 ernment, and I believe it will only hold its place by- 
 adventurers. If Kartoum falls, then go quietly back 
 to Cairo, for you will only lose men and spend money 
 uselessly in carrying on the campaign.^ 
 
 October lUh. — I have been obliged to make some 
 more arrests. Report in says many of the people, 
 chiefs, &e., of Shendy come in to the three steamers 
 
 ■lUl'Ilf*'. 
 
 1. Daihj News. 2. Times. 3. Standard. 4. Pall Mall Gazette. 
 
 now at Metemma ; also that the steamers have been 
 firing on the Arabs of Metemma ; report says that 
 expedition advance guard is at Abou Hamed, re- 
 mainder at Merow^ ; that some English are coming 
 from Kassala with Seyd Mahomet Osman to Gros 
 Rag^b ; that the Sakkeyer Arabs meditate a raid on 
 Shoboloha tribes, who are favourable to Government. 
 The Arabs fired on the lines this morning, doing no 
 harm. Made Ferratch Ullali, who used to be at the 
 Palace, a Miralli.io 
 
 9 It is worth while to note how readily Her Majesty's Government, 
 who had declined all General Gordon's suggestions while he lived, ac- 
 cepted this posthumous piece of advice. — Ed. 
 
 1" In his Wild Tribes of the Soudan, Mr. F. L. James gives an ac- 
 count 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 Sen-
 
 180 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 In the two letters, ^^ Faki Mustapha says the 
 English are prisoners at Assouan, and that the 
 Arabs had captured Abbas with Stewart at Cataract 
 Dar Djumna, below Abou Hamed, tohich would he 
 dismal 1 
 
 Arabs are keeping a long way off the lines since 
 the cavalry sortie. 
 
 No sigTi of the arrival of the Mahdi at Omdurman. 
 Very few horsemen to be seen on the South Front. 
 Query, have they gone down towards Berber ? 
 
 This evening, some twelve of those arrested and 
 allowed to stay in their houses are to be taken to 
 the barracks ; I hate those arrests, but one can 
 scarcely doubt so many informants, who declare 
 there was " trahison" meditated, not from any wish 
 to join Mahdi, but for fear I was not strong enough 
 to hold the city, and owing to Awaan's statement, 
 that he had v^ritten the letters I had received from 
 Debbeh announcing that the expeditionary force 
 was coming. 
 
 The north side is like a market, with the camels, 
 
 heit," 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 Massowah would take their camels, make tiieni 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, tliey consented to accompany us. On our arrival we presented the 
 letter, wliich, 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. 
 11 Appendix Q.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 181 
 
 horses, sheep, goats, donkeys, of the Shaggyehs, 
 who have come up from Halfeyeh, &c. 
 
 I confess I am more perplexed about these arrests 
 than I like; is it a good thing? or is it not? If I 
 could be sure that the majority wished to go to the 
 Mahdi, I could make up my mind at once what to 
 do ; it would be an immense relief to me, but does 
 the mass wish it ? If they do not, I ought to take 
 all precautions against such an event. Then comes 
 the query. Am I not, in these arrests, being made 
 a tool of by the Turkish and Cairo elements ? Are 
 they not gratifying spites ? Paul said, " / have 
 learned " (as in a school) " in lohatsoever state I 
 am to he content." I can only say, " I am learn- 
 ing," hut have " not learned" 
 
 No sign this evening in Faki Mustapha's camp of 
 the arrival of the Mahdi. 
 
 Heavy thunderstorm and rain this evening, which 
 will be made out by the proselytes of Mahomet 
 Achmet as a proof of his divine pretensions. It is 
 rather bad for our mines. 
 
 Octoher 15th. — No spies in — everything quiet. 
 Some begin to doubt if Mahdi is so near. 
 
 People say I must have some news of relief, other- 
 wise I would not have made the arrest of Mudir, 
 Cadi, and Sheikh el Islam, &c., &c. 
 
 I see there was a total eclipse of the moon on 4th 
 October, and there is a partial eclijDse of .the sun on 
 the 18-19th October. 
 
 I reason thus respecting the arrests : if the people 
 really want to go over to the . Mahdi, it will make
 
 182 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 no difference beyond hastening tlie event ; if they do 
 not want to go to the Mahdi, it will make no differ- 
 ence. If there is a minority to go to the Mahdi, the 
 arrests have upset their plans, at any rate for a 
 time. To my idea, these people were only hedging^ 
 in order to be prepared for all contingencies. 
 
 Mahomed Pasha Plassan, who is a barometer of 
 fear, approves of the step — so I hear in an indi- 
 rect way : — of course every body approves of it, if 
 ashed by me, for fear of their own arrest. 
 
 1 had to make three more arrests — when once 
 one begins this detestable practice, one never can 
 stop. As far as I can judge the mass of people ap- 
 prove of the arrests. I am now going on the prin- 
 ciple "in for a penny, in for a pound." Wilfrid 
 Blunt will make a nice row about this. It is very 
 odd we have had no one in from the Arabs for two 
 days. Glad to say I found out one arrest not just, 
 and have let the man out. 
 
 Jeremiah was arrested over and over again, and 
 let out by King Zedekiah. I wonder how any man 
 can possibly wish to enjoy despotic power : he can 
 never be happy or comfortable if he has any pre- 
 tensions to a conscience. 
 
 2 P. M, — Six flags appeared at Faki Mustapha's 
 camp. Report in town says the Mahdi is at his 
 Isle of Abba, 160 miles up White Nile, attending to 
 the circumcision of his son (poor little fellow). I 
 hope it is Unie, for it will give us ten days' respite. 
 He may also have another dream there, which will 
 tell him not to come to Kartoum, or he may per- 
 suade his followers to have one to same effect. 
 What a comfort ! ! !
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 183 
 
 The Malicli will make it an excuse that he came 
 for this circmiicision from Kordofan to Abba Isl- 
 and (where he I'eceived his first revelation that 
 
 he was the 3Iahdi), if he sees things go against 
 him.i2 
 
 3 p. M. — The six flags at Faki Mustapha's camp 
 have increased to ten (gathering of waters). We 
 have just completed our concentration of forces, and 
 the steamers have just come in from their last trip 
 from Halfeyeh. We may now be said to be in 
 fighting trim, close hauled. Small steamer Husseln- 
 yeh will be completed to-morrow, I hope. 
 
 6.30 p. M. — Horsemen riding to and fro in Faki 
 Mustapha's camp. A letter has come in with two 
 men from Slatin. Have received the letter, and 
 send back the men who brought it, at once. " You 
 must remember," says England, " that when you en- 
 tered my service, I bought you, as far as your body 
 was concerned, giving you at first 5s. 3c?. per diem, 
 when no one else would have given you Is., giving 
 you also a beautiful plumage and the entree jpartout. 
 You have advanced now to higher pay, but on same 
 terms (your whole life and body). You can never 
 say you have done more than your duty. If you do 
 not do it you break your word, and if you do it you 
 merely fulfil your contract, and have no claim on 
 me." 
 
 The two men who came in with the letter of Slatin 
 were one Arab and one slave. The latter ques- 
 
 12 The Mahdi declared that the Archangel Gabriel had twice ap- 
 peared to him and commanded him to unsheathe 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.
 
 184 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 tioned (apart) says that the report is that the Mahdi 
 will come in two days to Omdurman ; that he has 
 not been seen ; that the regular soldiers have gone 
 back to Kordofan ; and that Falci Musta-pha told 
 him (the slave) to frighten the Kartouoners. I am 
 hoping the Mahdi will prove a bogie ! 
 
 Steamers Bordeen and Ismailia went down be- 
 low Merowe to-day, and saw no Arabs on the left 
 bank of the Nile. 
 
 The quietude of Sheikh el Obeyed's forces is cu- 
 rious, for they have twice beaten us, with heavy loss^ 
 though they have been beaten by us, with loss, at 
 other times, but in minor engagements. 
 
 I begin to get over my disquietude in re the ar- 
 rests ; from what I hear, I thiidc public opinion is 
 not dissatisfied ; but really it was a strong measure 
 to arrest Sheikh el Islam, Cadi, and Mudir, and six- 
 teen others, and that without turning the two former 
 out of their employ. 
 
 A lot of people were pressing for harder measures, 
 but my new chief clerk said " we would wish to 
 leave it to you to do or not to do," which is lively, 
 as I am innocent of what goes on, or who is a traitor, 
 or who is not ; if ever there was a happy-go-lucky 
 government, it is this in Kartoum. I declare that, 
 sometimes, I give a decision, and have no more idea 
 of what the decision is about than a cow ; these, how- 
 ever, are exceptional cases. I have had about six 
 bad slips in ten years, not more, and these I have 
 managed to rectify, with loss of prestige. Slatin is 
 not with Faki Mustapha, so says the slave. What 
 liars these spies are !
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 185 
 
 If in two days I find the news correct that the 
 Mahdi is still in Kordofan, I shall let out all the 
 political prisoners (which will shock the townspeo- 
 ple), but will be true joy and delight to me, for it 
 has been a work utterly repugnant to me. I like 
 free will (we left God with our oicn free loill, we 
 must return with our ow7i free will). I hate a 
 forced subjection, and I feel sure that to let these 
 people out, with free will to go to the Arabs or not, 
 will be good policy. I must say that I feel it a 
 great compliment, when my counsellors say to me, 
 " Do ichat you thi7ik right, irrespective of our ad- 
 vice,^'' lohen they Tcnow I am ignorant of all that 
 goes on, ignorant of the Arabic language, except in 
 my style, ignorant of the Arah customs, ^c, ^c. 
 " You ivill do better than we do,^'' is what they say, 
 and /, i^oor Devil, do not hnow lohere to turn. Oh ! 
 our Government, our Government ! what has it not 
 to answer for ? Not to me, but to these poor people. 
 I declare if I thought the town wished the Mahdi, I 
 would give it up : so much do I respect free will.^^ 
 
 October 16. — The letters of Slatin have arrived. •''* 
 I have no remarks to make on them, and cannot 
 make out why he wrote them. 
 
 Heavy rain last night, I expect there is an end to 
 the vitality of our mines, and we have now no more 
 matches to renew them. 
 
 13 The action of Her JIajesty's Government had now raised the ques- 
 tion in General Goidon's mind as to whether tie was justified in punish- 
 ing any of the inliabitants of Kartoum who were heihjinrj with tlie Mahdi. 
 He was almost disposed to let them hedge if it gave them a better chance 
 of their lives. — Ed. 
 
 1* Ap[jendix R.
 
 186 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 No spies in, no Arabs visible outside their camp : 
 it is pretty certain that the Mahdi has not come to 
 Omdiirman. 
 
 The Austrian Consul ^^ has asked me to let him 
 write to Slatin, and to allow him to give him (Slatin) 
 an interview on the lines, which I have agreed to 
 and sent out. Slatin's letter to Hansall was quite 
 in a different tone to the one he wrote to me. What 
 astounding lies those spies have told about the Mahdi 
 and his heterogeneous staff being close here. 
 
 Noon. — Two spies came in, one from Sheikh el 
 Obeyed, one from Kordofan. The latter says the 
 Mahdi is not coming to Kartoum, but has been re- 
 called to Obeyed on account of the advance of ex- 
 peditionary force ; that the Mahdi has withdrawn all 
 the regulars captured here and there from our vicin- 
 ity to Kordofan ; that a lot of the Arabs he forced 
 to come with hmi have deserted him. That is about 
 all ; one feels disinclined to write these histories, 
 which are contradicted a few days afterwards. Cer- 
 tainly the Arabs are very quiet, and one does not 
 see many about. I hope to be able to let out the 
 prisoners on New Year's Day of Arab year 1302, 
 which is on 21st October. I shall make Ferratch 
 Pasha do the honours of the day ; I cannot stand 
 these pageants. A woman came in from the Dem 
 on the South Lines ; she says a few days ago there 
 was a regular panic caused by report of troops hav- 
 ing captiired Katarif ; half the Arabs went south- 
 ward. However the report was contradicted and 
 they have come back. 
 
 ^" Hansall. — Ed.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 187 
 
 Slatin's letter to Austrian Consul contains the re- 
 mark that " if he comes over to me I must promise 
 9ever to surrender the city, as he would then suffer 
 terrible tortures and death. He evidently is not a 
 Spartan ; he also says that " he changed his religion 
 because he had not had much attention paid to his 
 religious belief when young." If he gets away I 
 shall take him to the Congo with me ; he will want 
 some quarantine ; one feels sorry for him. 
 
 Slatin says there is a rumour that a boat of Stew- 
 art's expedition, down Nile, was captured by Arabs 
 at the Cataract Dar Djumna, below Abou Hamed, 
 but he doubts its truth ; this, in his letter to the 
 Consul. 
 
 The Arabs have not occupied Halfeyeh. The 
 Shaggy eh are pulling down Goba and Hogali, the 
 village opposite the Palace. The village of Omdur- 
 man is levelled. The little steamer Husseinyeh is 
 finished and armed, and will go up against the Arabs 
 (her virgin trip) on Saturday morning. They have 
 put a little lion as figure-head to it. 
 
 Fancy post-office officials (of all people), who have 
 done literally nothing for seven months (not being 
 able to do anything), asking for increase of pay ! ! 
 These people have no conscience. There were very 
 few Arabs to be seen on South Front this day, and 
 few were seen going to Giraffe. At Faki Mustapha 
 there also seems no numbers, in spite of the great 
 array of grass huts erected for the Mahdi. Report 
 in town says that the Arabs in Kordofan say the 
 Mahdi is all fudge, and that they are robbed more 
 now under his name than before, when they were 
 under the Government.
 
 188 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 Eeport says the Mahdi sent to Sheikh el Obeyed 
 (the man not the city^ to tell him to come to Obeyed 
 (the city not the viari), and devote himself to God's 
 service as a Dervish. The Sheikh el Obeyed (the 
 man not the city^ ^^ does not see it, for he is very 
 rich (I know it is a horrid nuisance these names, but 
 I did not give them). It would be a charity to exe- 
 cute the man, for those who are perplexed, and end 
 the difficulty. We cannot execute the city. 
 
 October 17. — Church parade at minimum: that 
 at Faki Mustapha's Dem some 400 : that at South 
 Front not more than a 1000. 
 
 Mr. Gladstone has a rival up here in shirt collars : 
 Mohamed Bey Ibrahim appeared 
 to-day with regular wings rather 
 ragged, his collars up to his ears, 
 regular orthodox patterns. 
 
 I am sending the Bordeen and 
 Husseinyeh up the White Nile to 
 reconnoitre, and the horsemen out 
 tov/ards Giraffe and Halfeyeh. 
 
 I shall have nothing to do with Slatin's coming 
 in here to stay, unless he has the Mahdi's positive 
 leave, which he is not likely to get : his doing so 
 would be the breaking of his parole, which should 
 be as sacred when given to the Mahdi as to any 
 other power, and it would jeopardise the safety of 
 all those Europeans, prisoners with Mahdi.^' 
 
 According to all accounts, the Cataract at Dar 
 
 16 These distinctions are in satirical allusion to some mistake made at 
 the Foreign Office. — Ed. 
 
 1^ Appendix S.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 189 
 
 Djiimna below Abou Haraed is a very small one, so 
 I am in hopes it is a false rumour that we have lost 
 the boat. A slave came from Faki Mustapha, say- 
 ing the Mahdi is at Jura Hadra, his people suffer- 
 ing from sickness : many have gone back to Kor- 
 dofan. All regulars have gone back, they have 
 little grain, and peoj^le are discontented ; this man 
 brought his riile in with him. 219 days to-day we 
 have been boxed up ; four of the principal men 
 were allowed to be prisoners in their houses, one of 
 these allowed a man to come to him and bribe the 
 sentry with two dollars : this man was whipped off 
 to the prison at once. The Sheikh el Islam let two 
 women come, to him : he was only threatened. We 
 caught a man going over to the Arabs to-day ; he 
 had under his ordinary costume the dervish dress. 
 If Zubair was here he would take off heads I feel 
 sure. I content myself with fearful threats, which 
 they know are nothing. 
 
 October 18. — The cavalry went out towards Gi- 
 raffe, and captured five female slaves ! and killed 
 three Arabs, who resisted their being taken. I own 
 I do not feel satisfied with the killing of these men, 
 but I suppose it is war : we lost none. The captive 
 ladies had little to say more than the Arabs had two 
 guns at Giraffe. 
 
 The Bordeen and Husseinyeh went up the White 
 Nile ; saw no Arabs at first, but coming back Arabs 
 got down two guns and opened fire ; they killed one 
 man and wounded another. I had warned these 
 steamers distinctly to keep in the middle of river,
 
 190 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 and not to go near the banks. The casualties were 
 from musketry. Arabs fired fifteen rounds (gun), 
 Husse'myeh fired ten rounds (gun), Bordeen fired 
 ten rounds (gun). I have stopped these steamers 
 going up the White Nile for the future. The officer 
 is entirely responsible for the death of this man, for 
 I had given orders that, even if they saw cattle or 
 boats, they were not to be enticed to the banks to 
 get them. I never will believe in ships against land 
 batteries, unless troops are landed, for tinless a 
 steamer can get close alongside a battery, the bat- 
 tery will hold its own. 
 
 October 19. — This morning, in spite of my orders 
 not to leave the lines, Bourre must needs send out 
 men, and the consequence was that I have a Bim- 
 bashi and six men wounded ; however I think I have 
 stopped these excursions for the future. The cavalry 
 went out from the North Fort to Halfeyeh, and saw 
 no one, and captured a cow ! 
 
 I hope it will be remembered that with respect to 
 white troops (fellaheen) on board the now four 
 steamers at Metemma, I make you a handsome 
 present of them (officers and all), and request that 
 if you use the steamers you will disembark those 
 men and take them on your list, for we never wish 
 to see them (and to have to feed them) up here 
 again. You will he carrying out the evacuation 
 policy 1 1 1 If you do not use the steamers, please 
 send them back empty of these fellaheen troojos^ but 
 send me their rifles. You will soon have a fine con- 
 tingent? for I have everything ready for a general
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 191 
 
 discharge of Cairo debris (Baslii Bazouks, &c., 
 &e.), the moment I hear you are really at Berber ; 
 I shall not wait to ask your leave, for I have had 
 enough of the debris up here, and you can feed them 
 better than we can ; *at any rate., they tcill be off my 
 hands, and on yours. I hope it will be an under- 
 stood thing that every Egyptian soldier you find be- 
 longs to yoiij and that you will not send him back 
 to me. I nobly present you irith them all., and 
 then, besides that, you have the glory of living rep- 
 resentatives of your rescuing expedition. I object 
 and protest against (when once Egyptian soldiers 
 come into your lines) your returning them to Kar- 
 toum. As for their pay, &c., as far as I have been 
 able to order, it ought to be quite clear what is owed 
 them. I have given orders enough about that sub- 
 ject, as Stewart knows. I include officers as well as 
 men. I want to see them no more. Pray attend 
 to this request ! ^^ 
 
 The Talataween came in this evening from Shen- 
 dy ; reports Seyd Mahomet Osnian has come to Gros 
 Eageb with English troops. English troops are 
 coming from Debbeh by Nile, and have passed Abou 
 Hamed. Arabs captured two boats of Stewart's 
 expedition, by means of the captured steamer Fas- 
 cAer, above Abou Hamed, which our steamers had 
 seen getting up steam : vide my Journal. I had a 
 feeling about this that when the steamers had seen 
 
 J8 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.
 
 192 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 the Arab steamer Fascher getting up steam they 
 ought to have staid and tried to pi-event the pursuit. 
 The Arabs have a gun at Shendy, which came from 
 Berber. The English troops are only two days dis- 
 tant from Berber. The steamers had twenty-five 
 wounded, they collected eleven prisoners, and cap- 
 tured four boats. One of our men was killed. The 
 Towfikia lost none on going down. I am sending 
 down the Bordeen and Talataween the day after to- 
 morrow to Shendy, with order to leave one steamer 
 at Shendy, and go on with the other four to Berber, 
 and to remain in its neighbourhood. The Man- 
 sowrah will stay at Shendy, and the Talataween^ 
 Bordeen, Sajihia, and Toiofikia wiU go towards 
 Berber. I shall keep the Ismail ia and Husseinyeh 
 here. 
 
 Statement of Troops, Arms, Ammuxition, Grain, &c., in 
 Kartoum, 19th October, 1884. 
 
 No. of Black Troops, Regulars 
 A White . 
 
 B Cairo Bashi Bazouks 
 
 Shaggyeh 
 
 Townspeople enrolled 
 
 Total 
 
 2316 
 1421 
 1906 
 2330 
 
 692 
 
 • 
 
 8665' 
 
 A and B will be sent to Berber as soon as it Is possible to 
 find transport, and as soon as you get to Berber. 
 
 No. of Guns upon Lines ... 12 
 
 Steamers ..... 11 
 
 Rounds Gun Ammunition . . . 21,141 
 
 " Small Arms, Remington . 2,165,000 
 
 " Arsenal turns out weekly . 40,000
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 193 
 
 Amount of Grain and Biscuit in Magazine. 
 
 Grain Ardebs 4,018 
 
 Biscuit . . . . . Okes 349,000 
 Weekly consumption of Troops Ardebs 500 
 
 No. of Steamers ...... 7 
 
 Private Boats 58 
 
 Government Boats .... 53 
 
 Money in Specie £2,900 
 
 Paper £39,195 
 
 October ^Oth. — Here is a summary o£ reports 
 brought by the Talataween, which left Shendy four 
 days ago. The Ahhas went down to Hagar Homar 
 with her four boats. She was pursued by the Fas- 
 cJier., which captured two of her boats, with twelve 
 Greeks. The Ahhas turned and fired two cannon 
 shots at the Fascher., which retired, and the Ahhas 
 went on her way and was seen no more. She is sup- 
 posed to have been attacked by Arabs below Abou 
 Hamed and drove off attack, killing seventy-two 
 Arabs ; the Greeks captured in the two boats were 
 not hurt by the Arabs. When the Ahhas got to 
 Debbeh the troops advanced towards Berber. Three 
 distinct parties moving on Berber : one through the 
 desert of Korosko (the Arabs have put 1500 men 
 and a gun at Abou Hamed) ; one from Merow^ to 
 Berber across the desert (making forts at inter- 
 vals) ; and one with Seyd Mahomet Osman down 
 the Atbara valley towards El Damer (which place is 
 at the junction of the Atbara with the Nile) assisted 
 by Awad Kerim. The steamers have been bombard- 
 id
 
 194 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 ing Metemma and Shendy, I expect with no great 
 effect. 
 
 To-day came in from Waled a Goun two men 
 and three women. They say the Mahdi is opposite 
 Kalakla, *. e. within two miles of Kartoum ; few 
 people with him ; those who came with him from 
 Kordofan have, in great part, gone back. 
 
 In yesterday's skirmish the Arabs lost two men 
 in the steamer fight ; the day before they lost more. 
 Waled a Goun has sent his family to Gitana ; many 
 are deserting. 
 
 An officer and sergeant have escaped and come 
 into Omdurman. 
 
 They say that the Arabs of Berber were warned 
 by some one in the town of the descent of the 
 Abbas. I have ordered th^ sale of 200 ardebs of 
 dhoora on the strength of this news. A man who 
 was at Berber, on board one of the captured steam- 
 ers, says Ferratch Pasha! and other officers have 
 sent news to the Arabs, and that the Arab chief of 
 Berber wrote to Cassim el Mousse, proposing he 
 should kill me, which Cassim el Mousse refused to 
 do. This Mahomet el Khair is a true cur, for I 
 have ever treated him well. I expect if the truth 
 was known very few notables or officials have not 
 been hedging with the Arabs. 
 
 The Shaggyeh on the opposite side are yelling; 
 on enquiring find it is for dhoora ; they have had 
 their month's rations and the month is not up. I 
 went to the telegraph office and told them that " till 
 the month was up I would give them none, but 
 that the Sheikh el Obeyed had plenty, and that if
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 195 
 
 they liked they could go to him ; " no answer was 
 given to this telegram. 
 
 The officer and sergeant who came in at Omdur- 
 man say the Mahdi with all Europeans, Hassan 
 Khalifa, Saleh Pasha, and that Frenchman are op- 
 posite Kalakla, and that he means coming to Om- 
 durman, that the Arabs are not in good heart. 
 
 The Saphia and the llansoiorah ought to have 
 laid off Berber, and prevented the exit of the Fas- 
 cJier when the Abbas went down, but I expect they 
 only cared to come back here. I am much put out 
 at the loss of those two boats. What one has felt 
 so much here is the want of men like Gessi, or 
 Massodaglia, or Slatin ; but I have had no one to 
 whom I could entrust expeditions like that. Ida 
 sincerely hope all Egyptians and Turks or Circas- 
 sian officers and men may he taken out of the 
 steamers and kept by you ; it looidd be too bad to 
 send them back to me. I do not mean the captains 
 or engineers of steamers. Twenty -two wounded 
 men were brought to the hospital (four were grave- 
 ly wounded) from Shendy steamer. I wish you to 
 take command of steamers, but do not let any 
 Khedwal authonty do so, for he will certainly be 
 bribed to let bach the Egyptians. Please acknowl- 
 edge the receipt of the Journal, of which this is 
 Vol. IV. As far as my experience goes, there are 
 not more contemptible troops, officers and men, 
 than the Egyptians, so beware of them ; and, with 
 scarcely an exception, all Turks and Circassians in 
 Egyptian employ are emasculated. 
 
 I have prepared to clear out of the Palace, and
 
 196 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 have five houses ready for occupation. I hope Cuz- 
 zi's baggage will be searched, for I feel sure he is 
 a traitor. A slave came in this evening from Waled 
 a Goun with the usual story of the near approach 
 of the Mahdi ; that Arabs want food ; that regu- 
 lars mean to desert when they get an opportunity. 
 With the reiterated request that I may not have 
 any Egyptians^ Turks^ or Circassians sent hack to 
 me,! end this Journal. 
 
 C. G. Gordon. 
 20/10/84. 
 
 The sunset to-night ends the year 1301, and be- 
 gins 1302.
 
 BOOK V.
 
 On outside wrapper (handkerchief) : 
 
 EVENTS AT KARTOUM. 
 
 20th Oct. to 6th Nov., 1884. 
 
 General Gordon's Journal, Vol. V. 
 
 The Chief of the Staff of Expeditionary Force for the 
 
 Relief of the Garrisons. 
 
 No secrets as far as I am concerned. 
 
 C. G. GORDON. 
 
 On cover : 
 
 EVENTS AT KARTOUM. 
 
 20th Oct. to 5th Nov., 1884. 
 
 General Gordon's Journal, Vol. V. 
 
 To be pruned down, if published. 
 
 C. G. GORDON. 
 
 On inside : 
 
 General Gordon's Journal, 
 
 From 20th October to 5th November, 1884, 
 
 EVENTS IN KARTOUM. 
 
 The Chief of Staff of Expeditionary Force for Relief of 
 
 Garrison. 
 
 VOL. V, 
 To be pruned down, if published. 
 
 C. G. GORDON.
 
 JOURNAL. 
 
 October 21. — Steamers left this morning for 
 Shandy. To-day is New Year's Day of the Arabs, 
 1302. I think the Mahdi speculated on a rising in 
 the town, but that the arrests^ have put him out in 
 his calculations. 
 
 New Year's gift this morning, in arrival of Mahdi 
 at Omdurman. Not much display. It is reported 
 that he will occupy Merowd and Halfeyeh at once ; 
 so it is as well I got the steamers off before he got 
 his guns down to river bank. They will be safe with 
 you,^ and very useful. 
 
 Two men came in from Saleh Bey of Galabat with 
 the post. They were thirty-two days en route. 
 They brought a letter from Mitzakis, the Greek 
 Consul, from Adowa, dated 17th August (which told 
 me as much, or more, than Kitchener's letter of 31st 
 August!).^ Saleh Bey is all right; he has been 
 attacked. Spies say the small steamer Mahovfiet 
 Ali, captured by the Arabs, is now on the Blue Nile, 
 at Abou Haraz. Sennaar is all right. 
 
 1 The arrests of tlie Mudir, Cadi, Sheikh el Islam, &c., who were sup- 
 posed to be in communication with the Mahdi. — Ed. 
 
 2 /. e., Chief of Expeditionary Force. — Ed. 
 8 Appendix Q.
 
 200 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 Mitzakis writes to the Greek Consul here to say 
 that a treaty has been made between Her Majesty's 
 Government and Abyssinia, to give Abyssinia Kas- 
 sala, Galabat, Katarlf, and Bogos! and that the 
 King is preparing an army to go and take posses- 
 sion.^ What an action. These lands (except Bogos) 
 are entirely Mussulman, have held their own, and 
 are in no way threatened, and w'e go and send a wild 
 so-called Christian people (who have nothing to do 
 with the quarrel) against these peoples, who have 
 held their own against the Mahdi. 
 
 October 22. — I wonder what Saleh Bey of Gala- 
 bat will say to this cession, after he has been fighting 
 for me. Also what Seyd Mahomet Osman will say 
 after all his trouble. 
 
 I can now see why I was kept in the dark. 
 
 In one of Saleh Bey's letters he says he sends me 
 a letter from King John. This I have not got ; it 
 apparently was not sent. 
 
 A man came in with letter from Slatin, in which 
 he says the Ahbas was captured near -Dar Djumna. 
 Stewart killed, with nine men, and all the papers 
 captured.^ 
 
 Three soldiers escaped yesterday from the Arabs. 
 Seven more came in to-day ; they had no news. 
 Mahdi and all Europeans are four hours distant. 
 Mahdi has put Saleh Pasha (of Shaggyeh) in 
 chains. 
 
 Twenty-six goats came kindly into lines to-day. 
 
 I am very anxious about the Abbas ; it would be 
 terrible, if it is true, that she is captured. 
 
 * Appendix Q. 5 Appendix R.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 201 
 
 The cut out pages are, or rather were, a tirade 
 against the cession of Kassala,^ &c., &c., but as they 
 would be no use now I have cut them out. 
 
 I believe Government can, nowadays, get men to 
 do anything by means of money and honours (not 
 honour)^ and I have a shrewd idea of how this af- 
 fair will end up here. However, it is not my affair, 
 and I have taken my decision. 
 
 Kitchener to Chermside. — " He is furious about 
 that admirable treaty of Hewitt's. Fortunate I did 
 not tell him about it. He has the Mahdi alongside 
 now, and can vent his spleen on him. We have got 
 his steamers all but two, and need not care." '* 
 
 Admirable treaty, let us think — yes, spread of 
 Christianity, regular missionary movement, ancient 
 Christian Church and people. . . . ! get me up a 
 precis of this history of Abyssinia, but not that part 
 of Bruce which speaks of ravages committed by the 
 Abyssinian army on the march. Hewitt, charmed 
 with Plis Majesty, calls the Queen his mother, &c. 
 Now, if we can only get that Mahdi to make a 
 treaty we are safe for six months. Enough for the 
 day is its evil. I declare I am becoming a mission- 
 ary myself with my quotations and acts. 
 
 Graham would be angry if I criticised his de- 
 spatch, which Slatin sent me. The Raiimer ^ seems 
 an excellent weapon. 
 
 6 Eight pages of the diary were cut out. — Ed. 
 
 ■^ General Gordon has just stated that a letter received from the Greek 
 Consul, dated 17th of August, contained more news than one he re- 
 ceived, dated 31st of August, from an officer in Her Majesty's service. 
 He then goes on to say he sees now (i. c. after reading the Greek Con- 
 sul's letter) why he was kept in the dark. — Ed. 
 
 * Sir Gerald Graham's despatch. — Ed.
 
 202 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 October 22. — It is suspected that the two men 
 who came in with letters from Saleh Bey of Galabat 
 are spies of the Mahcli, into whose hands has fallen 
 the letter King John wrote to me ; these men came 
 in a very circuitous way from the direction of the 
 Mahdi's camp. 
 
 Another soldier and a slave came in from the 
 Arabs just now. 
 
 Kins: John and the Mahdi both force men to 
 change their religion; both cut off lips of smokers 
 and noses of snuffers ; both are fanatics and robbers.^ 
 
 If the Mahdi has got King John's letter to me, 
 he knows all about the famous, or rather infamous, 
 Hewitt Treaty, which is a trouble. Slatin's letter 
 mentions the ' Rapport Militaire ' ; it seems odd he 
 should have known it was on board, unless the 
 Abbas was captured ; yet we have two men who 
 declare she passed down. Perhaps the captured 
 Greeks knew of the existence of this famous Journal, 
 
 9 " 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 j-ou 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.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 203 
 
 and told the Arabs of it, or Awaan may have writ- 
 ten it ; it is odd he (Slatin) says nothing of Power 
 and Herbin. 
 
 House of Lords ... in answer to questions put 
 by the . . . of . . . replied that the noble marquis 
 seemed to take a special delight in asking questions 
 which he knew he ( . . . ) could not answer. He 
 could say he had given a deal of time and attention 
 to the affairs of the Soudan, but he frankly acknowl- 
 edged that the names of places and people were so 
 mixed up, that it was impossible to get a true view 
 of the case (a laugh). The noble marquis asked 
 what the policy of Her Majesty's Government was ? 
 It was as if he asked the policy of a log floating 
 down stream; it was going to the sea, as any one 
 who had an ounce of brains could see. Well, that 
 was the policy of it, only it was a decided policy, 
 and a straightforward one to drift along and take 
 advantage of every circumstance. His lordship dep- 
 recated the frequent questioning on subjects which, 
 as his lordship had said, he knew nothing about, 
 and further did not care to know anything about. 
 
 . . . to . . . Why, I did my best to keep the 
 Hewitt Treaty secret from him. It is no use blam- 
 ing me. I knew from his telegram he would make 
 a noise about it, and I told Kitchener not to say a 
 word about it. It is that brute Mitzakis who let 
 the cat out of the bag. 
 
 A man came in from the Mahdi's camp, who left 
 this fourteen days ago with my permission to go to 
 the Arabs. He now comes back to see his family 
 in Kartoum. I have told him, — once out, there is 
 no return f He is a cool fellow.
 
 204 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 The Major wounded at Bourrd the other day is 
 dead. 
 
 The two men who brought letters from Saleh Bey 
 of Galabat do not like going out on the North Front 
 side ; they want to go out by the West side, i. e. 
 where the Mahdi's cump is. 
 
 I believe that the Hewitt Treaty wiU be a com- 
 plete dead letter, for the Greek Consul says the 
 Admiral gave him (King John) no money, so what 
 was the use of the treaty. I expect King John 
 wrote to me to ask me to give him the taxes of the 
 country ceded, quoting the treaty of Hewitt. As for 
 the King or his men ever leaving their hills, it is 
 out of the question. He might have made a move 
 had he been given X100,000, but no chance of his 
 doing so when he has nothing but this paper treaty. 
 The only place the King could possibly occupy is 
 Senheit, and I doubt his doing that permanently. 
 He will drive out the Roman Catholic Mission at 
 once ^^ (part of his missionary movement) ; the oc- 
 cupation of Senheit just cuts off the safe road from 
 Massowah to Kassala. I declare it is amusing to 
 see what shifts Her Majesty's Government have been 
 put to get out of their mess. 
 
 A slave has come in to Omdurman with another 
 letter from the Arabs. I shall stop this fun for the 
 future. 
 
 I feel sure King John gave Admiral Hewitt a 
 spear and shield and the Order of Solomon — van- 
 ity of vanities — for the treaty, and I feel also sure 
 
 10 Mr. F. L. James, in his Wild Tribes of the Soudan, gives an ex- 
 cellent and interesting account of this mission station, p. 210, seq.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 205 
 
 we shall see no Abyssinian army in the Soudan. 
 The King will write, or has written, a haughty letter, 
 saying that his mother, the Queen, has given him, 
 &c., &c., and he requests I will send in the taxes at 
 once., otherwise he will advance. All T.,^^ and we 
 shall hear no more of His Majesty except groans 
 at my perfidy in not sending the taxes. He is a 
 hopeless sort of man, and never is worth consider- 
 ing.^^ Her Majesty's Government will say : " We 
 made the treaty; it is not our fault His Majesty 
 did not carry it out, on paper ; Kassala and all the 
 other places are now under King John, and conse- 
 quently quite safe." The treaty is worth as much 
 as any treaty made now giving Kordofan to any 
 one I ^^ 
 
 We need now only a treaty with the Mahdi about 
 the garrisons, and then Her Majesty's Government 
 will sleep in peace : their work is done. I only say 
 I will have no confidence in any such treaty, and 
 shall take my precautions accordingly, i* 
 
 Letters have come in : one says Lupton Bey has 
 surrendered (Appendix U, a, 6, c, cZ), and has been 
 appointed Governor of Bahr Gazelle with an ad- 
 herent of the Mahdi. Another says that he has 
 brought slaves to the Mahdi, and hopes to buy horses 
 with the products of their sale.^^ The Mahdi's 
 
 11 Twaddle. — Ed. 
 
 12 Ismail, the Ex-Khedive, who knew King John well, said to Gen- 
 eral Gordon, " Never go near him ; it is perfectly useless." — Ed. 
 
 13 Of course General Gordon's contention throughout is that giving 
 Kassala, Katarif, Galabat, and Bogos, to the King of Ab3'ssinia, is in 
 fact precisely the same thing as abandoning those places. — Ed. 
 
 14 Here a page has been cut out by General Gordon himself. — Ed, 
 
 15 Appendix U, a.
 
 206 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 letter is to relate how he captured the post,^^ &c., 
 Abbas, &c. My answer ^^ was that I did not care 
 who had surrendered and who had been captured. 
 As for these letters, I cannot make head nor tail of 
 them, so I leave them to the Arabic scholars of the 
 Universities. 
 
 October 23. — (What a fearful scrawl!) Ten 
 soldiers, with six women came in this morning to 
 Omdurman. I have sifted out the Mahdi's letter ^^ 
 respecting the capture of the Abbas, and do not 
 believe it ; the papers he sent me as being captured 
 in the Abbas were never in the Abbas ; they were 
 taken from a spy I sent out from here, the same 
 man who brought me the news from Dongola of the 
 British advance. He had a bad eye (ophthalmia), 
 and was caught at Metemma and killed, having, 
 when drunk, let out that he had come from me. 
 
 The nuns had to walk all the way from Kordof an. 
 The Mahdi has 15,000 head of cattle with him. 
 The Arabs are dying in great numbers from dysen- 
 tery. The village of Hogali opposite the Palace is 
 levelled. It may not be generally known, but by 
 the firman which named Towfik there is an express 
 injunction that no part of the Egyptian territory 
 is to be ceded, except by permission of the Porte. 
 Also by the Treaty of Paris, and also by that of 
 Berlin, the integrity of the Ottoman Dominion is 
 guaranteed by the Powers. What a farce it is to 
 say Egypt ceded Kassala ! 
 
 The escaped party, I mentioned as having come 
 
 16 Appendix U, c. n u, h. is U, d.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 207 
 
 in, have arrived at the Palace, nine soldiers, eight 
 women, and two slaves, all old friends, also a hah]/ ! 
 They say the Mahdi started with 40,000 Arabs and 
 1500 Regulars from Kordofan, that he has not now 
 more than 5000 or 6000 Arabs and 1000 soldiers 
 (500 ran away), that they have no dhoora, only 
 35 boxes (35,000 rds.) Remington cartridges, and 
 50 shells ; they say the other soldiers want to come 
 in, either to-day or to-morrow. The Mahdi says he 
 will go against the English and will not stop at 
 Kartoum. The whole gang were shown themselves 
 in the mirrors. Such a display of ivories was never 
 seen. The baby danced with delight, at seeing 
 itself, for the first time ; it was like a black slug. 
 The mother was, of course, delighted. 
 
 The Arab horsemen cut the telegraph which goes 
 out of the lines at Bourr^ to the North Fort. I 
 declined to allow its repair, since I had lost a major 
 and had six men wounded when last we went out of 
 the lines, and besides which I had another cable to 
 the north side. No sentries at the North Fort or 
 Bourrd, or on the Mudirat ; these people are enough 
 to break any one's heart. Fortunately, from the roof 
 of the Palace one watches all these things, and can 
 bully them into obeying orders ; but it is (as Hansall 
 says ^^) a we ahrutissante^ to be always snarling and 
 growling. The Ismailia and Husseinyeh went down 
 the river, and saw no Arabs on either bank. If 
 these Arabs (one's servants) are not eating., they are 
 saying their prayers ; if not saying their prayers., 
 they are sleeping ; if not sleeping., they are sick. 
 
 19 The Austriau Consul. —Ed.
 
 208 
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 One snatches at them at intervals. Now figure 
 to yourself the jjosition ; you cannot do anything 
 with them while in these fortresses, eating, saying 
 prayers, sleeping, or sick, and they know it. You 
 would be a brute if you did (which I fear I often 
 am). You want to send an immediate order, and 
 there is your servant bobbing up and down, and you 
 cannot disturb him. It is a beautiful country for 
 trying experiments with your patience. 
 
 It is very curious, but if I am in a bad temper, 
 which I fear is often the case, my servants will be 
 always at their prayers, and thus religious practices 
 follow the scale of my temper ; they are pagans if all 
 goes well. 
 
 I must say I hate our diplomatists. 
 
 /5.-, 
 
 I think with few exceptions they are arrant hum- 
 bugs, and I expect they know it. I include the Col- 
 vin class. The Rothschilds are, I feel assured, giv- 
 ing Her Majesty's Government a lot of bother about 
 the Finance Question. If you had asked ... at 
 Balaklava the price of a cheese he would have said 
 .£5 5s. If you asked him now you would offend him.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 209 
 
 October 24. — Arab church parade. Mahomet 
 Achmet and Faki Mustapha ; few in number ; at 
 "Waled a Goun the Arabs have divided their camp, 
 putting the regulars near the river, in camp apart 
 from theirs, to act as buffers if any attack is made 
 on them. 
 
 The Arabs have got a nuggar at Giraffe. A man 
 of Zubair's old force has come in from the Arabs. 
 To-morrow expires the six months for which the 
 notes were issued. We have been boxed up 226 
 days (seven and a half months) ; siege of Troy. 
 
 The man who came in (Zubair's old soldier) was 
 one of Lupton's men from the Bahr Gazelle ; he 
 left five months ago (Bahr Gazelle). He says Lup- 
 ton is at Shaka, and is Sheikh Abdullah, so he has 
 changed his religion.^*^ I wonder what has become 
 of the garrison of the Equator. Another man has 
 come in. 
 
 All that bloodshed in fighting the slave-dealers in 
 the Bahr Gazelle has gone, apparently, for nothing ! ^^ 
 There are gi'eat doubts if the Mahdi is really near, 
 no one appears to have seen him. 
 
 Since the escape of the lot yesterday, the Arabs 
 have taken the rifles of the regulars from them : at 
 the Mahdi's camp, the Arabs have a ferry under 
 our nose, across the White Nile ; but I do not like 
 to send up the steamers, for the captains are so 
 heedless. 
 
 I calculated that the advance force of troops ar- 
 
 20 When a Christian becomes a Mahommedan he has to take a Ma- 
 hommedan name. — Ed. 
 
 21 General Gordon is here evidently thinking of Gessi's glorious cam- 
 paign against Suleiman. — Ed. 
 
 14
 
 210 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 rived at "Wady Haifa on 22nd September ,22 that they 
 took twenty days from there to Debbeh, so that on 
 12th October they were at Debbeh (Stewart (Z). 
 V.^ arrived at Debbeh on 28th September), and 
 I calculate they could not be at Metemma — Shendy 
 — before 10th November, which will give them 
 twenty-nine days for 150 miles, thence it is five days 
 here for a steamer, so that 15th November ought to 
 see them or their advance guard. 
 
 Extracts from Appendix K. 
 La Route de Souakim a Berber. 
 Avant que la bataille de Tamai eut ete livree et gar 
 gnee, le General Herbert Stewai't, sinon les generaux Gra- 
 ham et Buller, avaient etudie avec soin la question de sa- 
 voir si les ti'oupes, ou une partie des troupes, pouvaient 
 marcher jusqu'a Berber 2^07ir aider Gordon a reprhner 
 les partisans dii Mahdl dans la region du Nil. Cette 
 proposition semblait alors si convenable que I'etat des 
 troupes les mieux adaptees a une semblable expedition, les 
 dispositions pour les approvisionnements, I'equipement, 
 les chevaux disponibles, etc., avaient ete I'objet de I'etude 
 journaliere des officiers. On se souviendra qu'apres 
 Tamai, la cavalerie se transporta aux puits d'Handouk, 
 a huit milles de Souakim. On croyait generalement, 
 alors, que cette marche en avant n'etait que la premiere 
 etape d'un mouvement sur Berber d'une force montee. 
 Pour empecber toute souffrance provenant d'une disette 
 d'eau, I'effectif ne devait pas etre de plus de 500 hommes 
 
 22 The Black Watch started from Cairo for Wady Haifa on Septem- 
 ber 23rd. The Mounted Infantry reached Deel on September 24th, 
 and 150 men under Daubeny got as far as Tangoor on the 2Gth. The 
 first steam pinnace arrived at Sarras, which is about twenty miles above 
 the Second Cataract, on September 26th. Lord Wolseley did not reach 
 Wadv Haifa until October 5th. —Ed.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 211 
 
 de cavalerie ; aucune infanterie ne clevait falre partie de 
 I'expedition. II etait en outre entendu, qu'en cas de ne- 
 cessity, un semblable effectif pourrait suivre un jour ou 
 deux apres et trouverait egalement, dans les puits, de 
 I'eau en abondance. Le fait est que les generaux Gvn- 
 ham, Buller, Stewart, les colonels Clery, Taylor, et d'au- 
 tres, semblaient ne pas mettre en doute, si Tordre en etait 
 donn^, qu'une succession de detachements, forts chacun de 
 500 hommes, pourrait etre rapideraent poussee sur Ber- 
 ber. Le bruit de ce qui se passait parvint rapidement aux 
 oreiUes de nos hommes qui etaient a la Zariba d'Handouk, 
 et la plupart des troupiers manifesterent un desir intense 
 de prendre part a I'expedition. On savait que le General 
 Stewart avait soumis ses plans pour la marche en avant au 
 General Graham, et que ce dernier, ainsi que I'Ainiral 
 Hewitt, les avait recommandes au gourernement. Les 
 jours se succederent, mais Vordre du depart n'arrivait 
 pas : quelque empresses de partir que fussent heaucoup 
 d'hommes, si nmis avians connu alors la position exaete 
 de Gordon, on eut manifeste heaucoup plus d'anxiete 
 pour Vordre dtt depart. Lorsque cette question etait dis- 
 cutee, question qui au moment occupait pleinement nos 
 pensees, entre officiers superieurs, ils exprimaient I'etonne- 
 ment que I'ordre fut tant retarde, et que le Gouvernement 
 hesitat davantage. On n'arrivait qu'a une seule conclu- 
 sion, c' etait que la positiori du General Gordon etait telle 
 quHl n' avait pas hesoin d'aide de troupes britanniques ve- 
 nant de Souakim. Quoi qu'en ait pu penser, apres re- 
 flexion, le General Graham, de la possibility d'envoyer 
 mie troupe de cavalerie forte de 500 hommes, en mars 
 dernier, de Souakim a Berber, je suis certain que lui et la 
 plupart des officiers sous ses ordres croyaient alors que 
 c'etait une chose sage et guerriere a entreprendre. Nous 
 nous apercevons tous trop tard, que cette simple expc'di- 
 tion eut sauve Berber, Khartoum et Gordon au vrai coiur.
 
 212 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 If they do not come before 30th November the 
 game is up, and Rule Britannia. In this calculation 
 I have given every latitude for difficulties of trans- 
 port, making forts, &c., and on the 15th November 
 I ought to see Her Majesty's uniform. I suppose 
 a part of the force will go to attack Berber on the 
 10th November (when I calculate they will be at 
 Metemma — Shendy), and that a small party will 
 come on here ; so we have now 7 days in October 
 and 15 days in November to wait = 22 days — 
 three weeks to add to the 226 days we have already 
 passed, owing to Baring (whom I shall remember) 
 and his peace manoeuvres. One of the papers 
 Slatin sent to me says that Graham was willing 
 to send men to Berber, and could have done it ; 
 but Evelyn would not give the order. I asked 
 only for 200 men to be sent there (vide my tele- 
 gram in Stewart's Journal). I take Slatin's paper 
 out of Appendix E, and put it on the other side.^^ 
 I do not know the date, but I declare that, if my 
 telegrams to Baring are made known, it will be 
 proved Baring knew up to the 12th March the ex- 
 act position of affairs up here ; and therefore, if 
 there was an impression abroad that I did not say, 
 " Send troops (200) to Berber,^* or you -will lose 
 it," he must have suppressed my telegrams. 
 
 23 The paper referred to is the French extract just given. — Ed. 
 
 24 Sir E. Barinrj to Earl Granville (received March bth). 
 
 " General Gordon has on several occasions pressed for 200 British 
 troops to be sent to Wady Haifa. 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 Uh). 
 "General Gordon and Colonel Stewart strongly urge the desirability,
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 213 
 
 I dwell on the joy of never seeing Great Britain 
 again, with its horrid, wearisome dinner parties and 
 miseries. How we can put up with those things 
 passes my imagination ! It is a perfect bondage. 
 At those dinner parties we are all in masks, saying 
 what we do not believe, eating and drinking things 
 we do not want, and then abusing one another. I 
 would sooner live like a Dervish with the Mahdi, 
 than go out to dinner every night in London. I 
 hope, if any English general comes to Kartoum, he 
 will not ask me to dinner. Why men cannot be 
 friends without bringing the wretched stomachs in 
 is astounding. 
 
 October 25. — Three men came in from Waled a 
 Goun ; one I sent out again, as I think he is a spy, 
 the other reports that the small, captured steamer 
 Mahomet AH will be down at Giraffe with twelve 
 boat loads of grain, either to-day or to-morrow. I 
 do not even attempt to stop it ; for if the expedi- 
 tionary force arrives, we will capture it ; I cannot 
 risk steamers against land guns. 
 
 Two soldiers came in from the Arabs at Omdur- 
 man with their rifles. 
 
 A lot of people are moving from the right bank 
 of Nile, towards the Sheikh el Obeyed's (the 7nan 
 not the city}. Are they leaving on account of the 
 advance of the troops? or is it for offensive pur- 
 
 from the point of view of the success of their present mission, of open- 
 ing up the Berber-Suakin route. ... I cannot agree with the proposal 
 mentioned in Colonel Stewart's telegram, that a force of British or In- 
 dian cavalry should be sent through for Suakin to Berber." — £i/ypt 
 No. 12 (1884). No. 205. — Ed.
 
 214 
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 poses ? or is it a raid which is returning from pil- 
 lage ? We sent up the steamers and stopped the 
 Arab ferry near the lines. The Arabs are retaliat- 
 ing by putting a gun or two in the old place near 
 the large tree (el Sheddarah). The Arabs fired 
 four shells at the steamers. Soldiers at Omdurman 
 captured two cows, and killed two others. Another 
 slave came in at Omdurman. Yesterday some cows 
 were captured near the South Lines. 
 
 El foun 
 
 Obeyeil 
 4000 
 1 glH» 
 
 OmdoiTnan 
 
 What would be the best plan of attacking the 
 Arabs ? The object is to give them such a crush- 
 ing defeat as will put an end to the fighting, and 
 prevent them rallying on Kordofan. The position 
 is thus : —
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 215 
 
 1. I would attack Waled a Goun at A, and I 
 would cut off his retreat by sending up steamers to 
 Duem with a small force ; the Mahdi's force and 
 Sheikh el Obeyed's force would look on. 
 
 2 At the same time I would attack the post at 
 Giraffe. Both operations on the same day with the 
 following troops. 
 
 OiJerations on White Nile. — To proceed up the 
 White Nile by boats, 2000 B. infantry to point X. 
 To proceed along the White Nile, right bank, the 
 cavalry you may have to point X. To occupy with 
 two guns and 1500 men simultaneously the two vil- 
 lages outside the lines, with the Soudan troops, the 
 troops not to advance, only to threaten, houses loop- 
 holed, &c. Three steamers to accompany the force. 
 
 Operations on Blue Kile. — To proceed up tha 
 Blue Nile or along the bank, 1000 B. infantry, ac- 
 companied by steamers and boats, with the Shag- 
 gyeh horsemen, some 80, and 1000 men of Soudan 
 troops to Giraffe. 
 
 If these operations are successful, then 800 men 
 with four steamers to pursue up the river to Duem. 
 
 Expedition to'wards Sennaar. — The Sheikh el 
 Obeyed will probably surrender at once, then a 
 force of 500 B. I. and 1000 Soudan infantry should 
 go up river to Wad el Medinet, and open the route 
 to Sennaar (while men are sent up to buy corn with 
 them). There appear to be no Arabs in arms be- 
 tween Wad el Medinet and Sennaar, or south of 
 Sennaar. (The Mahdi will at once retreat to Obeyed, 
 the city.^ This expedition will probably be met at 
 Abou Haraz by the surrender of Katarif and all
 
 216 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL 
 
 that district, and thus the route to Katarif and Kas- 
 sala will be opened. 
 
 These operations will entail the very smallest 
 amount of marching on the troops, and would be 
 completed in three weeks or less. 
 
 It must be remembered that in all these engage- 
 ments in the Soudan no quarter on either side has 
 been given, so it must not be expected that the 
 Soudan troops will give it now if you come ; also 
 with respect to the wounded Arabs, if you go and 
 help them, they will (like the Afghans) try and kill 
 your men who make the effort ; they are very treach- 
 erous, and, worked up by religious frenzy, they 
 think — 1. That you only pretend to help them, in 
 order to kill them afterwards ; 2. That, being des- 
 perate, they think to enter Paradise if they kill an 
 infidel. It seems rather cold-blooded to write this, 
 but it is the character of those whom you are to fight. 
 For my part, I hope they will all run away, for they 
 are only duj)es ninety-nine out of every hundred ; it 
 is the leaders who are the prime movers. I would 
 give the lives to the leaders if they ask pardon ; but 
 I would send them all to Mecca to study Mahdism 
 under the Orthodox. No information as yet as to 
 the meaning of the caravan, &c., which left the Nile 
 to go towards the Sheikh el Obeyed. One of our 
 boats, which was collecting grass down below Hal- 
 feyeh, must needs land its crew and try and take 
 some cattle of the caravan. The Arabs turned on 
 them, and killed the Reis. Crew says they killed a 
 lot of Arabs (?). 1 think these people do really love 
 fighting, if there is the least chance of plunder.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 217 
 
 King John (according to the Greek Consul) is to 
 be allowed to import arms at Massowah. He will 
 never do it, for he has not money to buy them. 
 
 If the Mahdi has got the Bahr Gazelle, and we 
 evacuate the Soudan in his favour, the Anti-Slavery 
 Society may as well close their office as to the sup- 
 pression of the slave-trade in these parts, especially 
 if we leave him the steamers.^^ 
 
 Special Commission, House of Lords. . . . under 
 examination, Q. 2389. Did your Lordship know, 
 when in Cairo, that the fellaheen were being 
 dragged in chains from their houses, to go and fight 
 the Mahdi, under Hicks, and what steps did you 
 take to prevent it?^^ Did you inform Her Maj- 
 esty's Government of the facts, and what was their 
 answer ? 
 
 The Mahdi has moved his ferry higher, up river 
 since our steamers went up this morning. 
 
 It is a great question of doubt to me, if Public 
 Officials ought to so sink their personalit}', as to 
 allow themselves to overlook facts, which must strike 
 them, as being not only evil, but also detrimental to 
 our national interests, merely because such facts are 
 likely to be disagreeable to our Government in re- 
 quiring them to decide on difficult questions. . . . 
 did know of this forced conscription, and so did 
 . . . Did they not see that, to allow such conscripts 
 to go up to the Soudan, was not only cruel, but also 
 
 25 Gordon's intention and desire was to liave taken the steamers to 
 the Balir Gazelle, and to have protected that country against the Mahdi. 
 — Ed. 
 
 26 The fact that the fellalieen were dragged in chains from their 
 huts, and kept in chains in the streets of Cairo, is well kuown. — Ed.
 
 218 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 politically unwise, for it could not be expected that 
 they would have any heart in the matter ? If they 
 had stopped it, Hicks would have never left Kar- 
 toum, and his army would not have been annihilated ; 
 for it is the defeat of Hicks which gave the Mahdi 
 his great prestige. He had annihilated detachments 
 before that : after that he had crushed a huge army. 
 See what it has led to ! There are times when men 
 like . . • ought to obey, and there are times when 
 they ought to disobey or else resign. Now, if . . . 
 had only hinted his resignation, the Governments 
 were so placed as to be obliged to listen to him. I 
 have a strong suspicion . . . did know how to act. 
 It Avas . . . and a wish to be agreeable to Her 
 Majesty's Government which prevented him acting 
 according to his own ideas. Sometimes it is the 
 height of unkindness to be too kind and amiable, 
 and this is one of those cases. History may be 
 misty about it (will not know the thimble the pea is 
 under, for the cards are well shuffled), but there is 
 no doubt that . . . had the destinies of Egypt and 
 of the Soudan in his hands, y«r more than Her 
 Majesty's Government., and he did not succeed. His 
 amiability did for him. It is not insubordinate to 
 resign, if you do not agree to a policy, or feel you 
 cannot carry it out with a whole heart. In military 
 affairs it is different ; one is ordered to go here and 
 there, and one obeys (even if one thinks it is unwise, 
 having represented it), but in dij^lomacy there is no 
 such call, and certainly there was none in the case 
 of . . . who is only an amateur in the Foreign 
 Office Service, an outsider. Had . . . when he came
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 219 
 
 to Egypt cut down the rate o£ interest by a swoop of 
 his pen to 3^ per cent., who would have said a word? 
 but now it is the difficulty. There would have been 
 a fearful howl from the bondholders, but that would 
 have been all. He dismissed the Control (under the 
 cover of Towfik), and could have reduced the inter- 
 est, and he would have gained the sympathy of all 
 the people. Hicks (who, by the way, never wanted 
 to go to the Soudan) would have held his own at 
 Kartoum, and have worn out the Malidi, and we 
 would have had none of this late work. I am afraid 
 to say what numbers have been killed through this 
 present policy, certainly some 80,000 ; and it is not 
 yet over. For my part, I hope they will all run 
 away. We have in a most effectual way restored 
 the slave-trade and slave-hunting, for Her Majesty's 
 Government cannot keep the Soudan, and never will 
 Egypt be able to govern it. The only thing to be 
 done is to give it to the Sultan. What an end to 
 diplomacy of Her Majesty's Government : and it was 
 so easy when I left in January, 1880, to have settled 
 it quietly, giving up ICordqfan, Darfur, and Bahr 
 Gazelle^ and Equator., with decency and quiet. 
 
 I declare I do not see how we will get out of it 
 (the Soudan) even now ; allow that you come to 
 Kartoum, that you drive off the Arabs, open the 
 road to Sennaar. What are you going to do ? 
 You will say, " Take out those who wish to leave." 
 Well, you begin with Sennaar, and of course will 
 have to fight all the way down. It will take three 
 months. During those three months, how are you 
 to feed Kartoum ? for the moment vou leave Sen-
 
 220 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 naar you leave your granary. You get to Kartoum, 
 you are face to face with 30,000 people, who will 
 not leave, and who are hedging with the Mahdi; 
 and with 3000 Shaggyeh, all armed. You fight 
 your way to Berber ; another three months, you 
 have no food at Berber ; then it will need another 
 tv/o months to get to Dongola, which (seeing your 
 policy) will be hostile. It is indeed a terrible prob- 
 lem, and I wish I could see my way out of it. 
 
 Then you come into the hot months, and low 
 Nile. This time next year will not see you out of 
 the Soudan, with decency. Of course you can go 
 back now, but what was the use of coming ? / tvill 
 not alloio that you came for me. Yoti came for the 
 garrisons of the Soudan. Now, by the Turkish 
 arrangement, if you act promptly, you can get away 
 quietly in January, 1885. It will not cost anything 
 like what it will cost you to keep your troops here 
 for a year, as I fear you must do if you persevere in 
 trying a ^'' rapid retreat." 
 
 I can have no object in this advice. I want to get 
 out of the affair, but with decency. I regret the 
 necessity of an expedition, but if once you come to 
 Berber, and communicate with Kartoum, if you 
 stick to the ^^ rapid retreat,^^ you will not be able 
 to accomplish it, and you are in for a year's stay. 
 While, on the other hand, the giving of country to 
 Turks enables you to get away with credit. Let Her 
 Majesty's Government fnd excuses for it ; it will 
 not be difficult for them. Put yourself in my posi- 
 tion if you say " rapid retreat., and leave Sennaar to 
 itsfater I will say, " iVb, I would sooner diefirst^''
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 221 
 
 and will resign my commission, for I could not do it. 
 If you say, " TJien you are no longer Governor- 
 General," then I am all right, and all the responsi- 
 bility is on you (for I could not be supposed, if you 
 turn me out of Governor-General, to be obliged to 
 aid such a movement, which I think is disgraceful). 
 You will then be face to face with the people. I do 
 not say but that Abdel Kader might not aid in the 
 " raind retreat " better than I could, even if I 
 agreed to it (of this you can judge for yourself ; at 
 any rate I shall be out of it, and of my engagement 
 to the people). 
 
 It may be that all this writing is unnecessary, and 
 that you have other views, but it is as well j^ou 
 know my opinions. / am secure against any loss, hy 
 the King of the Belgians, if I leave H. M. S., there- 
 fore lam, so to say, free of H. M. S. If you turn 
 me out of Governor- General I am relieved from all 
 responsibility, as to your action in Soudan, toioards 
 the people. I do not think I am insubordinate in 
 this matter, nor unreasonable. I do not say I would 
 not give all my services in a subordinate position to 
 aid you, but it would be against my grain and be 
 very distasteful, and must NOT be in position of 
 Governor-General ; that must be a sine qud non^ 
 and it must be known that I disapprove of the 
 " rapid retreat.^'' ^' I would not say this if I was not 
 
 2" 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
 
 222 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 convinced that the " rapid retreat " is an operation 
 of such difficulty as to make every Englishman 
 akin, and bound to aid one another. If I was Lord 
 Wolseley I toould mahe Her Majesty's Government 
 send the Turks here. 
 
 I do not advocate the keeping of the Soudan by 
 us ; it is a useless possession, and we could not govern 
 it, neither can Egypt (after the late events). I am 
 only discussing how to get oxitof it in honour and in 
 the cheapest toay (we must remember we caused its 
 troubles), and that way is, either by some sort of 
 provisional Government under Zubair, or by giving 
 it to the Turks ; it is simply a question of getting 
 OUT OF IT with decency. Zubair would square the 
 Shaggyeh and townspeople and arrange with the 
 Mahdi, and you could get away. He might hold 
 his own if you gave the Mahdi a good defeat ere 
 you left ; at any rate it is only by Zubair or the 
 Turks you will get out of the Soudan before No- 
 vember, 1885 ! ! ! ! ! 
 
 The Turks are the best solution, though most ex- 
 pensive. They would Iceep the Soudan : give them 
 £2,000,000. The next best is Zubair with £500,000, 
 and £100,000 a year for two years ; he\vill keep the 
 Soudan for a time (in both cases slave-trade will 
 flourish) ; thus you will be quiet in Egypt, and will 
 be able to retreat to Egypt in Januatn/, 1885. If 
 you do not do this^ then be prepared for a deal of 
 loorry and danger.^ and your campaign will be en- 
 
 pages back: "In militarv affairs it is different: one is ordered logo 
 here and there, and one obeys (even if one thinks it unwise, having 
 represented it), but in diplomacy there is no such call." — Ed.
 
 GENEllAL GORDOS'S JOURNAL. 223 
 
 tirely uni^rofitahle and devoid of prentige^ for the 
 clay after you leave Kartoum the Mahcli will walk in 
 and say he drove you out, which is not pleasant in 
 India or elsewhere. 
 
 In discussing this question I have entirely put my 
 own peculiar views out of the question : to give up 
 countries which are to some degree civilised, which, 
 if properly governed, are quiet and orderly, to the 
 Turks or to Zubair, and to allow of the slave-trade 
 to flourish again in tenfold intensity, is not a very 
 high Tole^ but quoifaire ? We have not the men to 
 govern these lands, we cannot afford the money ; 
 consequently, I advise what I have said. When I 
 left the Soudan it was quiet and covered its expenses, 
 and there was no bother to have continued to have 
 governed it. Now it is different, and would need an 
 outlay which our Government will not give. (It is 
 because the cloth is short I recommend the shape of 
 coat to be such.) 
 
 It would be nobler to keep the Soudan, but it is 
 too much to expect our taxpayers to agree to (and 
 besides which, ' Plutarch's Lives ' are no longer in 
 vogue, and " you must 'pay me 'well ere I go to the 
 Soudan " is the idea). The Soudan could (if cut off 
 from excrescences) be made to pay its expenses, but 
 it would need a dictator, and I would not take the 
 post if offered to me. 
 
 October 26. — Three women came in from Waled 
 
 28 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 
 "rt deal of iLwrry and danger,'''' and the campaign has been '"entirely 
 ■unprofitable and devoid of prestiffe." — Ed.
 
 224 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 a Goun. The idea is gaining ground that the Mahdi 
 is dead, and that his Vakeel is acting his part. The 
 Arabs are thinking of placing a station at Merow^. 
 
 Yesterday week was the anniversary of Hicks's de- 
 feat, 1st November, 1883, though I believe it went 
 on for three days, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd November. 
 
 The Arabs have brought a gun nearer Bourr^ to- 
 day, probably emboldened by absence of the steamers. 
 Two lieutenants, one sergeant-major, two sergeants, 
 one soldier, and one slave came in to Omdurman from 
 the Arab camp. They say the Mahdi is alive ; with 
 him are Saleh Pasha, in chains, Hussein Pasha Kha- 
 lifa, Elias Pasha, and all the Europeans. They heard 
 a report (now some days old) that the Expeditionary 
 Force was two days distant from Berber. The two 
 lieutenants were with Hicks ; they say the army died 
 of thirst, and scarcely fought at all. With the Mahdi 
 are 5000 men, of which 1000 are black troops, 150 
 are Egyptian troops. What little weight do engineers 
 place on the existence of populations in fortresses, 
 yet this existence is all-important ; more so than the 
 works. Malta and Gibraltar are weak, because of 
 their civil population. 
 
 The Arabs have a big tent at Giraffe this even- 
 ing. The lieutenants who came in say the Mahdi 
 will try and place a station in the place we drove 
 them out of — on the North Front — in August last, 
 just before our defeat at El foun. Goba, with the 
 exception of Mahomed Seyd Osman's house and the 
 Mosque, is destroyed. Salaam Pasha's is nearly so. 
 
 8 P. M. — Two slaves have come into Omdurman. 
 They say " the regulars in the camp of Mahomet
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 225 
 
 Aclimet, the MaTidi^ ivent this afternoon to the Dem, 
 or camp of Faki Mustaplia^ and looted it, firing on 
 the soldiers of Faki Mustapha, who resisted the 
 plundering." I fear it is all fudge. 
 
 October 27. — One sergeant-major and two slaves 
 came in to Omdurman this morning. Sent out two 
 spies towards Shendy. 
 
 One thing which (although spiteful) would cause 
 me intense pleasure if the " rapid retreat " is carried 
 out, is that the English would just walk into those 
 Shaggyeh and Bashi Bazouks, and bundle them all 
 out, and thus pay them out for the worry they have 
 given me, and for their meanness. 
 
 If the Turks come here, you would have scarcely 
 any one to send down, and you would hand over the 
 Shaggyeh and Bashi Bazouks to the Turks, and all 
 the Divans, &c. Nothing then could be better for 
 you than to get the Turks here. You would get off 
 all responsibility of Kassala and Sennaar, and you 
 woidd let the Turks and the King of Abyssinia set- 
 tle about the Hewitt Treaty. You would also get 
 off the bother of the Equator and Bahr Gazelle, if 
 it has not fallen. 
 
 You would know exactly what sum you had to 
 pay, and save no end of expense and time and vex- 
 ation with regard to the settlement of claims. Re- 
 member that Baring authorised me to draw more 
 than d£100,000 ; indeed, he said, " Such sum as you 
 need." So you are responsible for paper-money is- 
 sued. 
 
 You would make up with the Sultan, and, as for 
 
 15
 
 226 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 giving up Suakin and Massowah to the Turks it is 
 nothing ; for those ports are useless, except as ports 
 of the Soudan, and woukl be a bother to you to 
 keep, if the Mahdi has the Soudan. You would be 
 always in strict blockade on land side.^^ 
 
 The more I think of it the more the Turk solu- 
 tion appears Hobson's choice. I can see no option, 
 unless, ere you arrived at Kartoum, Kartouni fell, 
 and then, even, it would not look well to go back 
 from Berber, while that even would be dangerous to 
 some degree ; for the Dongola people would see you 
 meant to evacuate, and would be hostile. You have 
 gone so far and sj^ent so much that I cannot see 
 anything for it but to go on. And the Turks are 
 the only solution which affords the certainty of be- 
 ing able to stop. I get out of all my troubles if the 
 Turks come, for I shunt them on the Turks, and so 
 do you. The idea is that when the English come 
 here the Arabs will bolt. 
 
 Stewart's servant, Macktar, must needs go and 
 marry another wife. How they can go on like this, 
 marrying and giving in marriage, when one can 
 never say, that to-morrow is our own, is wonderful. 
 Tangi has taken two wives up here ! 
 
 The Government shall not get out of the desertion 
 of Kassala (if they take cover under the Hewitt 
 Treaty and say, " We arranged with the King of 
 Abyssinia to look after that country "), if they do 
 desert it, for the King will never move, and all who 
 have ever known anything of Abyssinia must know 
 
 29 "We are at present not only in strict blockade on the land side of 
 Suakin, but absolutely besieged. — Ed.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 227 
 
 he can never move. There is a report in town that 
 Slatin has been put in chains. I should not be at 
 all surprised. 
 
 The sergeant-major, soldiers, and two men, Shag- 
 gy eh, who came in to-day, say that Slatin is not a 
 prisoner. The sergeant-major states that one of our 
 soldiers escaped from Omdurman three days ago. 
 On inquiry, I find that it is true, and the officer in 
 command never reported it. The sergeant-major 
 says the Arabs meditate an attack on Omdurman, 
 in consequence of what the deserter told them. This 
 is the fourth desertion since March that I know of, 
 and it is the first desertion among the soldiers (with 
 saving clause) that I know of. Arabs fired on the 
 Santels ^ at the end of the lines on the White Nile, 
 and struck one. The Arabs fired fourteen times 
 with Krupp guns ; they retired when we fired twice 
 on them ; they fired from their old battery near the 
 Tree " el Sheddarah." Some time ago I gave Fer- 
 ratch Pasha £100 a month, and I afterwards made 
 him a Ferile, or General of Division, for political 
 reasons. He had the cheek to ask me to give him 
 £150 a month (the sum I used to give the Se- 
 raskier or Commander-in-Chief in the Soudan in old 
 times, but which was £50 beyond regulation). He 
 put in an ajiplication a few days ago for the £150, 
 and forage for eight horses ! Quite ignoring the 
 state of the dhoora exchequer, I said, " Wait." He 
 was foolish enough to renew the application, which 
 I tore up. He may go to the Arabs if he likes. 
 The Arabs appear to be passing the Blue Nile at 
 
 80 Barges. — Ed.
 
 228 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 Giraffe ; they may be going to place a post at Halfe- 
 yeh, the Sheikh el Obeyed refusing to send his men 
 there : we shall see to-morrow. It is not from any 
 feeling of respect to the people up here that I urge 
 their relief, but it is because they are such a weak, 
 selfish lot, and because their qualities do not affect 
 the question of our duties to them. The Redemp- 
 tion would never have taken place if it had depended 
 on our merits. 
 
 I must say I rather revel at the thought of the 
 dismay which will attend the reduction of salaries to 
 quarter their present rate, they have been so very 
 selfish about these things. I believe if the Mahdi 
 would only give them half the present rate, they 
 would go to the Mahdi ; but the Mahdi's service is 
 gratuitous, so there is no fear of that. I go out, a 
 black Bashi Bazouk addresses me on the inadequacy 
 of his pay and rations. I whisper to him, " Go to 
 Sheikh el Obeyed,'^ he grins and evaporates. I do 
 not care a bit now. We must either be relieved, or 
 fall, before the end of November, or at the end of 
 November. I am meditating the sending down of 
 the Husseinyeh with this post ; if the Arabs come to 
 Halfeyeh I then cut off all hopes of our escape, for 
 the Ismailia steamer would not be fit to go down to 
 Berber. The financial affairs up here will be a pre- 
 cious job. 
 
 It amuses me to find people here holding on to 
 the delusion that the old state of affairs is likely to 
 come back as to the Government, and saying, " You 
 are going to stay with us as Governor-General, and 
 things are to be as of old." I answer, " I would not
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 229 
 
 take you again at any price after your meanness." 
 They say, " Oh, yes, the people are not well be- 
 haved, &c., &c., but you will stay for the glory of 
 God'''' {%. e. our interests). They are an amusing 
 lot : Allah on lips, self interest at heart, and such 
 self interest as is positively naked^ and they even 
 laugh at it. 
 
 A soldier and a slave came in to-night to Omdur- 
 man. They say the Mahdi is undecided what to do. 
 The regulars with the Mahdi have been robbing the 
 Arabs, so the Mahdi has taken away their arms. 
 
 Spy in from Sennaar fifteen days ago with let- 
 lers,^^ which say Sennaar is all right. This was in 
 answer to a letter I sent to Sennaar, saying, " Ex- 
 pedition was on its way to relieve the garrisons^ so 
 Sennaar depends on me to see after it.^^ 
 
 October 28. — The man who came from Sennaar 
 says the Mahdi has ordered all the Arabs to congre- 
 gate at Kartoum from all parts. Sheikh el Obeyed 
 has made a station close to Giraffe, on right bank 
 of Blue Nile. They have two boats plying across 
 the river, taking corn from Sheikh el Obeyed to 
 Waled a Goun. Arabs had a reconnoitring party 
 in the ruins of Omdurman village this morning. 
 
 One lieutenant, one sergeant-major, four soldiers, 
 and one boatman came in this morning from the 
 Arabs at Omdurman. Rumour says the steamers have 
 been looting Shendy (I hope that it will be remem- 
 bered none of the Egyptian soldiers, officers, or Pa- 
 shas are to come up here again). The boatman left 
 
 81 Appendix T.
 
 230 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 Berber six days ago. He says the Arabs at Berber 
 have sent the captured money, &c., of Berber into 
 the desert ; that Seyd Mahomet Osman, with a mixed 
 force, were two days' march from El Damer ; that 
 the five steamers have brought Shendy, &c., into 
 subjection; that the road from here to Shendy is 
 free of Arabs, who have gone into the desert ; that 
 only in a certain district near, but higher uj) than 
 Shoboloha, there are marauding Arabs, but no great 
 number ; that the Abbas passed down safely ; that 
 the two boats which had wood in them alone were 
 captured, being abandoned on being emptied ; that 
 at Dar Djunina a Sheikh pretended to be friendly, 
 and tried to capture the steamer, which fired on the 
 Arabs, and killed a lot ; that three spies from Seyd 
 Mahomet Osman were captured trying to commu- 
 nicate with Dongola, and were executed ; that a man 
 went with a camel from Berber to Dar Djunina, 
 and came back in one day ; that the Expeditionary 
 Force is at Dar Djumna. The officer reports the 
 Mahdi most undecided, one hour disarming the reg- 
 ulars, and at another hour arming them ; the Arabs 
 deserting, and others joining the Mahdi day after 
 day. 
 
 A mine was exploded by a man on the North side, 
 and I hear he is dangerously wounded, if not dead. 
 On questioning the boatman again he explained the 
 Dar Djumna is not the Cataract, but is a place 
 (near the Cataract, just below Berber) one and a 
 half days from Berber. They, the Expeditionary 
 Force, had eight steamers (one, the old screw boat 
 of Dongola, I had towed up from Wady HaKa in
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 231 
 
 1878). The man said the Abhas went on to Don- 
 gola (why was it not sent up with the others?). I 
 have given half month's pay to all ranks below ser- 
 geant-major. I only owe them now half month's 
 pay. 
 
 If the General of the ExjDeditionary Force has sent 
 up a force, by Nile to Berbei\ to take Berber., and 
 then if he marches across with bulk of force from 
 Merow^, in my humble opinion he has done the 
 
 right thing. 
 
 Abou Hamed 
 
 O 
 
 ODebbeh 
 
 If Berber had not been taken it would have been a 
 picnic. Baring ! ! Baring ! ! ^^ 
 
 The force going up Nile from Merow^ to Berber 
 would have pretty well quieted the banks of the Nile, 
 
 32 Sir Evelyn Barinrj to Earl Granville. 
 
 Cairo, February 28th, 1884. 
 
 " I have the honour to report to your Lordship that, although I (.lid not 
 specially consult General Gordon on the subject of sending British 
 troops to Assouan, he telegraphs to nie that if 100 British troops were 
 sent to Assouan or Wady Half^, 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.
 
 232 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 for the trianyle contained by Merow^^ Ahou Hamed^ 
 and Berber^ so that the bulk of the force, moving 
 from Merow^ to the captured Berber, would only be 
 exposed to attacks from the south flank, where there 
 are few people. My experience is that whenever you 
 can possibly do so, never expose yourself to be at- 
 tacked on all points of the compass ; at any rate se- 
 cure yourself on one flank. The force advancing 
 up the Nile were protected on one flank, the Nile ; 
 that going across from Merow(^ to Berber will be 
 protected on the north flank by the subjugated tri- 
 angle. Arabs this evening appear not to intend to 
 come to Half ey eh. They have a station at Giraffe, 
 and another at Kokoo, which is nearly opposite 
 Giraffe, on right bank of Blue Nile. (End of this 
 blotting jxeper /) ^^ 
 
 Ferratch Pasha tried again in a roundabout way 
 to get the <£150 a month, forage (i. e. dhoora) for 
 four horses, and rations for ten men ; he utterly 
 failed, and had to content himself with .£100 a 
 month : they are a mean lot. (^Do not let any of 
 those Egyptians in the steamers come bach here is 
 my earnest prayer.) (Floyer will be furious at this 
 misuse of telegraph forms.) 2* I am truly delighted 
 that the Abbas did not leave the Greeks behind, and 
 only abandoned the boats carrying wood. I hope in 
 fourteen days to have another sister steamer to Abbas 
 and Husseinyeh completed. I have told them to 
 rivet her only six inches above water line, and to put 
 
 83 The foregoing portion of the Journal is written on tissue copying- 
 paper. — Ed. 
 
 84 This part of the Journal is written on telegraph forms. — Ed.
 
 O Berber 
 
 O Abou 
 Hamed
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 233 
 
 holdfast rivets for the upper portion which is above 
 water, and which does not require to be water-tight. 
 
 They say that the Fascher ^^ steamer had a gun 
 on her ; she went aground near Abou Shourim (the 
 Father of the Truth), and got delayed in her pursuit 
 of the Abbas. The man wounded by the mine is 
 wounded in the head, chest, and legs ; there is not 
 much hope of his recovery. 
 
 Awaan (Stewart's friend, the secretary of Arabi) 
 is behaving very badly in prison ; he was put in 
 chains by mistake and released, but it has had no 
 effect : he abuses the soldiers. I expect he wrote to 
 the Mahdi and told him of Stewart's departure and 
 of the "Journal," His arrest is said to have been 
 of great effect in the town ; he is said to have 
 preached for a long time in favour of the Mahdi. 
 
 October 29. — To-day, year 1801 a. h., is said to 
 be about the date of Hicks's disaster ; it was on the 
 1st, 2nd, 3rd November, but with the Arabs it was 
 the 12th, 13th, 14th Moharrem. The news was 
 known in Cairo three weeks after the event oc- 
 curred ; since that date iij) to this date nine people 
 have come up as reinforcements — myself, Stewart, 
 Herbin, Hussein, Tongi, Ruckdi, and three servants, 
 and not one penny of money.^^ Of those who came 
 up, two, Stewart and Herbin, have gone down : Hus- 
 sein is dead, so six of the reinforcements alone re- 
 
 35 Captured at Berber by tlie Arabs. — Ed. 
 
 86 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's army, and no at- 
 tention paid to me till communications were cut ?" — Ed.
 
 234 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 main, while we must have sent down over 1500 and 
 700 soldiers, total 2200 including the two Pashas 
 Ibrahim Hardar, and Hussein Cheri, Coetlogon, &c. 
 The regulars, who were in arrears of pay for three 
 months when I came, are now only owed half a month, 
 while the Bashi-Bazouks are owed only a quarter 
 month, and we have some £500 in the treasury. It is 
 quite a miracle. We have lost two battles, suffering 
 severe losses in those actions of men and ai'ms, and 
 may have said to have scrambled through, for I can- 
 not say we can lay claim to any great success during 
 the whole time. Things apparently went against us 
 when we thought we were getting the best of it. 
 
 I believe we have more ammunition, Remington 
 (though we have fired three million rounds at the 
 Arabs), and more soldiers now, than when I came 
 up. We have every reason to thank God for his 
 protection. We had many untoward and unex- 
 pected misfortunes : the death of Berzati Bey ^' at 
 Gitana ; the almost unprofitable first trip of steam- 
 ers to Sennaar, and their useless delay ; our defeat 
 (after El foun victory), by which we lost the active 
 part of our troops, and our fighting Pasha, jNIahomet 
 Ali ; the surrender of Saleh Pasha and 1500 men, 
 with the capture of the Mahomet All steamer ; the 
 fall of Berber, with two steamers lost. It is really 
 very wonderful that, with such few successes and so 
 many heavy disasters, we should be in the position 
 we are now. Of the reinforcement, Stewart and 
 
 8" 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.
 
 GENERAL GORDONS JOURNAL. 235 
 
 Tongi got wounded. We have lost three steamers, 
 two at Berber and one at the Blue Nile, and we have 
 built another, the Hiisseinyeh, and hope to have 
 another finished in a fortnight, which makes our 
 loss only one. The defeat near El foun brought 
 about the arrival here of the Mahdi, which might 
 have been very serious, but his arrival has been 
 apparently rendered innocuous. We have £40,- 
 
 000 in Treasury in paper, and £500. When 
 
 1 came up, there was £5000 in Treasury. We 
 have £15,000 out in the town in paper money. 
 When I came, we had two Pashas, Ibrahim Harclar^ 
 Hussein Cheri ; we have now two, Ferratch and 
 Nutzer Pasha. Two women, wives of the men who 
 escaped yesterday (with another very small brown 
 baby), came into Omdurman to-day. They say the 
 Arabs are very angry about the desertions ; also a 
 boy came in. It would seem, looking over the past 
 months, that, if taken in detail, events have been 
 very much against us ; while, if taken generally, we 
 have been most successful. I always had an idea 
 we would not be allowed any success which we could 
 impute to ourselves ; that events would be so ruled 
 that we should just scramble through and have noth- 
 ing to boast of. Mahomet Ali Pasha's defeat was 
 owing to his and his men and the people of Kar- 
 touni's desire to loot Sheikh el Obeyed (the man, 
 not the city). It was against my grain, for I wanted 
 to capture Berber, which was the proper military 
 operation to undertake ; it was only because they 
 were so anxious, and represented the affair as so 
 easy, that I consented to it. Perhaps, if we had
 
 236 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 taken Berber, Her Majesty's Government would 
 have said that no expedition was necessary for the 
 relief of the garrisons ; but it would not have been 
 correct to reason thus, foi', though Berber might 
 have been taken, we could not have garrisoned it ; 
 and it would have been a barren victory, and not 
 have done much towards the solution of the Soudan 
 problem or withdrawal of the garrisons, while it 
 might, on the other hand, have stopped the expedi- 
 tion for their relief. 
 
 It is the Mahdi's men who have made the station 
 at Kokoo on right bank of the Blue Nile opposite 
 Giraffe, not the men of Waled a Goun ; I expect it 
 is to overawe the Sheikh el Obeyed. 
 
 The Baggaras on the north side captured this morn- 
 ing three of the Arabs (one is brother of the writer 
 whose things were found on the bank, and whom we 
 supposed to have been murdered) ; they were steal- 
 ing three horses belonging to Saleh Pasha. A slave 
 came in from the Arabs at Omdurnian ; he says the 
 Mahdi says the Moharrem being a sacred month, he 
 does not mean to fight ; he did not act on that view 
 in re Hicks ; but then Hicks attacked or tried to 
 attack him. 
 
 Doubts are tlrrown on the veracity of that boat- 
 man, for he told some few lies about how he went to 
 Berber in a Government boat, which is not true. 
 However, his report cheered us for a time. Some 
 one (Talleyrand ?) said, " If a lie got currency for 
 twenty-four hours, it did its work." I am still of 
 opinion, however, if the season was not so far ad- 
 vanced, and the Nile on the fall, that the route by
 
 Abou 
 flamed 
 
 Small Detachments should 
 fill up the ■wells on both 
 flanks. A and B. 
 
 QShendy
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 237 
 
 the Nile for a covering force was a correct one, 
 but it ought to have been undertaken in July with a 
 rising Nile. 
 
 The three men caught to-day say the " Expedition- 
 ary Force is still at Debbeh" and I expect this is 
 the truth, for the eight steamers' coming up the Nile 
 is scarcely possible now, since the Nile is falling. 
 The distance direct from Kartoum to Debbeh is 
 nearly 250 miles, and if the Kababish are friendly, 
 the road is not a bad one ; however, I think Ambukol 
 to Metemma (could the force know I had the five 
 steamers at Metemma) would be better, for it is only 
 150 miles, and from DeTbbeh to Ambukol there is 
 water transport. The road from Ambukol to Me- 
 temma does not plunge so deeply into desert ; indeed, 
 Merowe to Berber^ 150 miles, with water transport 
 from Debbeh to Merow^, would be best of all, if the 
 force could cross the Nile at Berber. The only 
 enemy the force will meet with, on any of the three 
 roads, are camel-men and horsemen, till it arrives on 
 the banks of the Nile. 
 
 October 30. — This morning the Arabs came to 
 Halfeyeh, capturing some of our heedless people ; 
 whether they will stay there or not I do not know — 
 rumour says they are on their way to Shoboloha and 
 Shendy to repel the ravages of steamers. 
 
 You have the map made by railway engineers of 
 the route from Ambukol to Metemma, which must 
 have all information, wells, &c., c&c. I should put 
 five station forts along the line, and when I made 
 my debouch at Metemma I should split off one de-
 
 238 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 tachment to capture Berber, and another towards 
 Kartoum, taking care of any guns in Shoboloha defile 
 (during which passage I should march the men, and 
 not leave them in the steamers or boats). I would 
 make my base at Metemma for all operations in the 
 Soudan connected with the Nile Valley — the num- 
 bers I have put for the forts along road are probably 
 in excess of what woidd be required. 
 
 The Arab force which went towards the north 
 (? Shendy) consists of 200 footmen, and 50 horse. 
 
 Two men came in from the South Front — they 
 say the Sheikh el Obeyed is with the Mahdi ; and 
 Waled a Goun and Abou Gugliz are at Giraffe. 
 I expect that the Arabs have captured one of our 
 merchant's boats at Half ey eh. 
 
 We have 1300 men in the North Fort, yet 250 
 Arabs went boldly across our front to Halfeyeh, and 
 we do not dare to show our noses ; this speaks for 
 our morale. 
 
 A slave came in at Omdurman ; he says the Mahdi 
 says he will not fight until after Moharrem (to-day 
 is 12th Moharrem). 
 
 Arabs fired on the lines from near the White Nile 
 to-day, but did no harm. Not being able to sleep 
 last night, I was late in getting up, and consequently 
 every one also slept and no proper look-out was kept 
 on the Arabs. I should think I had written twenty 
 orders about their keeping a look-out, but it is of no 
 use. The Arabs have gone back to Giraffe. I am 
 going to make the officer of North Fort pay compen- 
 sation for the men wounded, and to the families of 
 those killed, in this raid. The map made by the
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 239 
 
 railway engineers (1874-1875) must have every in- 
 formation as to water supply on Ambukol-Metemma 
 road. 
 
 In reality, tlie relief of the garrisons is only a 
 question of crossing over a well-surveyed road of 150 
 miles, at the end of which are found five steamers 
 and nine guns : of course there is a great deal of 
 trouble in transport arrangements, but no particular 
 danger. 
 
 I believe we (i. e. those Shaggyeh) lost to-day 
 twenty-three soldiers taken prisoners, one killed, one 
 wounded ; seventeen cows, five women, eight slaves, 
 three donkeys, seven horses,^^ twenty-four Reming- 
 ton rifles ^^ captured ; and this after I had repeatedly 
 warned them of an impending attack, and specially 
 warned them last night after the capture of the three 
 spies. They, these Shaggyeh, number 1200 ; on 
 the other side, with 30 horses, the Arabs were not 
 200 ; they made no attempt to defend themselves ; 
 dreadful lot, how I look forward to their disband- 
 ment ! Had I left them at Halfeyeh what a time I 
 should have had with them. The Arabs have paid 
 us off with interest for our cavalry raids of a few 
 days ago. If any troops come up, as soon as the 
 environs are clear around Kartoum, I would recom- 
 mend their immediate disbandment. I cannot see 
 
 38 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 ! ! ! 
 
 39 I am goin;^ 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.
 
 240 
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 any reason why the " expedition for the relief of the 
 garrisons " should not have captured Berber^ and 
 arrived at Kartoum on l^th November (Lord 
 Mayor's Show), which is giving ample time; say- 
 ing that troops did advance from Cairo on the 15th 
 August, which I guess (from Kitchener's laconic 
 
 Debbeb 
 
 Ambukol 
 
 . - :r> SNtsgee 9 
 
 "^ \ \ 
 
 ' QS^'>».QKambok wella 
 
 ^^^ '■••.. 10 MiLes 
 
 J°S \pGebeI Gelifwell 
 
 \ 
 
 .}0 MILES 
 \ 
 ;-,0 Aboa Halfe wen 
 
 V;.. 12 MILCS 
 ^ ^.p Gakdul wens 
 
 \.J5 MIUS 
 Boo'VOBerea ? no weO 
 
 1.30 MILES 
 
 BDo\OAJjpu Klea well 
 kniu] X 
 
 despatch of 31st August) was the case. That strong 
 rumours could not have been known at Debbeh (for 
 at least twenty days) that Kartoum steamers were 
 at Metemma (plundering right and left) is most 
 unlikely, even if my many spies (sent with notes to 
 this effect) did not get through one of their number. 
 These rumours should have pointed out that the 
 Ambukol-Metemma road was the road to follow **^ 
 
 *" See map above. — Eu.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 241 
 
 — even if not decided on before, which is most 
 probable. 
 
 Route Ambukol to Metemma. — Itdsterary of 
 Arabs. 
 
 Ambukol to Nesgee 
 
 . 24 hours 
 
 Nesgee to Om Haifa 
 
 . 12 " 
 
 Om Haifa to Gakdul 
 
 . 12 " 
 
 Gakdul to Abou JOea 
 
 . 18 " 
 
 Abou Klea to Metemma . 
 
 . 12 " 
 
 Caravan 
 
 . 78 " 
 
 Wells plentifully supplied. 
 
 No tvells of imjjort on flanks. 
 
 I expect water can be found along Wadi Abou Gir, as 
 water is found at Kambok, which is on a higher level. I 
 shaU anticipate no danger for a force of 200 men as far 
 as Gebil Gelif well — that takes 60 miles off tliis march 
 of 150 and leaves 90 miles. 
 
 In the centre you have the wells Abou Haifa and Gak- 
 dul, 12 miles apart. This central portion is distant Am- 
 bukol 80 mUes, Metemma 65 mdes. There apjjear no 
 weUs on flanks where Arabs can assemble in any numbers. 
 
 Octoher 31. — Three men, soldiers, came in from 
 the Arabs on the White Nile last night. To-day 
 it is 7§§ months, or 233 days, since the Arabs ap- 
 peared in our immediate neighbourhood, since which 
 date we have had no peace. 
 
 It will be bitter cold in the desert, and I think, 
 of all the deserts, that of Dongola is the coldest. 
 I do not think I should send Nutzi Pasha and the 
 Egyptians you take out of the steamers down further 
 
 16
 
 242 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 than Dongola, for the moment, for if you do you 
 will put Dongola on the qui vive as to the evacuation. 
 Certainly, for those who ai-e for a rapid retreat, 
 having a tete dit jjojit (so to sa}') at Metemma, much 
 facilitates the movement ; for the garrisons and the 
 people of Kartoum and Sennaar. Sheudy-Metemma 
 is evidently the chief strategical point of the Sou- 
 dan ; for from it you reach Kartoum, Sennaar, and 
 Berber by water, and Kassala b^ the Atbara valley ; 
 but, short of making Fowler's railway to Shendy, I 
 should prefer the making of stations along the Nile, 
 for a peace route and for small forces, as by the 
 Nile you get free of camel transport, which depends 
 on the temper of the Ai-ab tribes : besides, the Nile 
 route is cheaper, and could be put into execution 
 with one high Nile. 
 
 The three soldiers who came in last night have 
 one sergeant-major among them. He says Mah- 
 mound Ivhalifa ^^Tote to his father, who is with 
 Mahomet Achmet, in which he says that the English 
 General wants him to get camels in gi*eat haste ; that 
 he is delaying as much as possible ; that the English 
 General wants to go in one body : that he is trying 
 to get him to go in four bodies; that Mahmound 
 Khalifa is a traitor, like all his family; and he 
 should catch it, for I expect this information is cor- 
 rect. The sergeant-major says that Mahmotmd 
 Khalifa is at Dongola or Debbeh. The Mahdi is 
 going into a cave for this month and next ; he is 
 now in his cave. All the Europeans are with the 
 Mahdi (not in the cave"), Slatin is very good 
 friends with the Mahdi, and sees him every day (?). 
 <^This is rather against the cave report.)
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 243 
 
 The mysterious Frenchman is not with the Mahdi, 
 but in Kordofan. The letter which I spoke of as 
 coming from Mahmound Khalifa arrived at the 
 Mahdi's camp fifteen days ago, so left Dongola 
 about twent^'-two days ago (9th October). Can 
 it be remembered whether at that time, viz. 9th 
 October, any altercation took place on subject of 
 march ? ^^ In the letter is a remark that the Eng- 
 lish General said he wished " all to go together, for 
 he would not leave a sick man behind." The man 
 says Mahmound Khalifa wrote another letter to his 
 father, stating the start from Dongola towards Ber- 
 ber. I can produce the sergeant-major who gave 
 this information. 
 
 Church parade much as usual. I expect they ex- 
 hibited the captives of yesterday. It is extraordi- 
 nary if we are employing Mahmound Khalifa, when 
 his father, Hussein Pasha Khalifa, is a so-called 
 prisoner of the Mahdi. Stewart knows, I think, that 
 the father gave up Berber by more or less treach- 
 ery. 
 
 I hope the Mudir of Dongola will look after this 
 man. The sergeant-major says " that the Mahdi de- 
 clares " he will execute the Sheikh el Islam (whom 
 I put in prison) for preventing our surrendering, 
 by which bit of news / read that an adherent of tlie 
 Sheikh el Islam got some friends of his to bribe the 
 
 *i It was about this date that the recall of Lord Wolseley was gen- 
 erally rumoured at home and abroad. On the 10th of October this * 
 rumoured recall was officially contradicted. The Times, however, 
 said: " We have every contidence in the veracitj' 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.
 
 244 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 sergeant-major to say this while on his way to the 
 Palace. 
 
 Three men more have come in — one sergeant, 
 one corporal, and a slave — from the Arabs at Om- 
 durman. They say many Arabs leave daily for 
 Kordofan ; the Mahdi has sent three companies of 
 regulars to bring back deserters ; the Mahdi has 
 been taking women from others, which makes the 
 Arabs doubt his holiness ; he has only forty rounds 
 for each Krupp gun, of which he has two. The 
 slave was a great fat bull-faced feUow. He was 
 honest, for when I asked him why he came here, he 
 said, " because he got so little to eat with the 
 Arabs." His apjaearance belied his words. These 
 men said nothing of the cave business. The living 
 skeleton in hospital (Stewart knows him) departed 
 this life yesterday — I will not saj^, deeply regretted, 
 except by me in a small way, for I knew him so 
 long. It turns out that the Shaggj'^eh chief who 
 commanded in the North Fort slept in toAvn the day 
 before yesterday night, and so was absent at yester- 
 day morning's catastrophe ; also the officer Osman 
 Bey, who went down to Berber with steamers to es- 
 cort the Abbas past Berber, and who let the Fas- 
 cher pursue the Abbas, never reported this man's 
 absence ; I have turned them out, and cut them each 
 a month's pay. (No sentry as usual, on North Fort. 
 They are incorrigible. 2 P. M. Though their men 
 have gone to look for missing rifles, I ordered them 
 thirty blows : i. e. the sentries.) 
 
 Two cows have kindly walked into Omdurman 
 Fort. The Arabs fired a few shots on the lines
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 245 
 
 near the White Nile, which did not reach them ; I 
 expect the Arab chiefs send out the regulars and 
 tell them to fire on the lines, and the regulars obey 
 orders much as my orders are obeyed here. The 
 North Fort hate my telescope ; day and night I 
 work them. It is one of Chevalier's, of Paris, which 
 I picked up here and gave X5 for ; it is by far tlie 
 best glass I ever saw. Commander J. Baker, R. N., 
 has the hest opera-glasses ; he got them from me at 
 Berberah in 1878, in exchange ; they belonged to 
 the Egyptian Government. It was the father of 
 Hussein Pasha Khalifa who led the Egyptians into 
 the Soudan in 1823. The family comes from As- 
 souan ; for this, the grant of monopoly of commerce 
 through Korosko desert was given to the family. 
 It was taken away from them in Ismail Pasha 
 Ayoub's time, about 1872, and I restored it to them. 
 I heard the Mahdi gave them this monopoly after 
 the fall of Berber, or rather agreed to their retain- 
 ing it. I think the only good one of the family was 
 Sheildi Hamid, who died this year. I sent the 
 horsemen of these Shaggyeh out to the scene of yes- 
 terday's disaster ; they recovered a horse ! two don- 
 keys ! and three Remingtons ! and found the body 
 of one of their slaves. I am going to make them 
 pay for the lost Remingtons, nineteen in number 
 now. I cannot afford to have Remingtons thrown 
 away like that. This recalls to my mind how, when 
 I had 700 men in the North Fort, which consisted 
 of two houses distant sixty yards apart, the great 
 Melon, who was in the house where the telegraph 
 office is, declined to open the door of liis house, and
 
 246 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 sent a message to the other house, for fear of the 
 Arabs, who were camped three miles distant. It 
 was like this : 
 
 R I 1/ £ 8 
 
 I have ever felt the greatest insecurity respecting 
 the lines, for I believe one hundred determined men 
 would carry them with «ase, if they made their at- 
 tack on the Shaggyeh or Bashi Bazouk part. These 
 creatures used to shut themselves into the houses at 
 about 7 P. M., and never go out till it was broad 
 daylight ; they were not eighty yards from the river. 
 The Cairo Turkish Bashi Bazouks, the Shaggyeh, 
 and the fellaheen soldiers, I will back against any 
 troops in the world for cowardice .' I expect the 
 reason why the Arabs did not take the three recap- 
 tured horses was because they w^ere as friohtened 
 nearly as our men (vide p. 239) ; the worst of it is, 
 that it is taken generally as a thing of " matter of 
 course'' by the Kartoum people, and, one may say, 
 officers ; no one is a bit put out or ashamed ; it 
 teaches no experience. Vide the absence of sen- 
 tries on the fort to-day, who, I expect, cannot sit 
 down over - comfortably to-night after their thirty 
 blows. 
 
 One cannot help feeling amused at these Shag- 
 gyehs, for they are the most arrant braggadocios,
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 247 
 
 as are the Cairo Turkish Bashi Bazouks, and when 
 jou come up, if you do, you will see how they will 
 exhibit. They have little kettledrums about a span 
 in diameter ; whenever I hear them 1 feel viciously 
 inclined. This dates back many years. ' The Shag- 
 gyeh are very quiet to-day ; they are all boxed up 
 in the houses ; very few have ventured out more 
 than 2000 yards. The report is that they are 
 ashamed, which, if words could make them so, they 
 ought to be ; but I doubt it. They have not beaten 
 their kettledrums to-night ; yes, they have begun to 
 beat them now. On one occasion, when I had two 
 guns in their fort, I had a truly miserable night ; for 
 a cow would have taken the fort, though there were 
 1200 men in it. It was more for the guns than for 
 them that I was anxious. The horse, which was re- 
 covered to-day, was saddled and was bridled, but, 
 like a wise brute, as he could not eat with the bit in 
 his mouth, he put his foot on the bridle and broke it 
 off. I telegraphed to the rider " that I felt sure he 
 coidd not look him in the face after leaving him out 
 all night for nothing with the saddle on." ^^ 
 
 November 1. — The Arabs came up to their old 
 fort in front of Bourr^ this morning and fired a few 
 shots ; they did not stay five minutes there. A 
 Boulak Basha, his son, and two slaves came into 
 Omdui'man and report the Mahdi is in the cave ; 
 
 42 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.
 
 248 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 that Slatin has retained all his property; that the 
 Arabs continue to desert the Mahdi, who sends the 
 regulars after them ; that the deserting Arabs fight 
 the soldiers, and have killed many of them ; that the 
 Arabs generally doubt the mission of the Mahdi, 
 and wish for the return of the Government. The 
 Mahdi is not going to fight during Moharrem and 
 Saphia months. Two hundred and fifty Arabs de- 
 serted yesterday. The Mahdi sent the regulars after 
 them, and four regulars were killed, and the de- 
 serters got away. Fifty to one hundred per diem 
 run away. These people are a fine lot. The mer- 
 chants of the market have been refusing to give 
 more than three and a half reals for a sovereign, five 
 to six reals being the proper rate ; so I captured 
 nine of the chief of them, and have sent them to the 
 lines with a pretended order to send them out to 
 Waled a Goim, but with orders to keep them on 
 the lines. I hope this will cure them. I shall let 
 them in again when they sign a paper agreeing to 
 my terms. Of course it is tyranny, but there is no 
 other course to be pursued. The nine culprits, three 
 soldiers with fixed bayonets before, three soldiers 
 with ditto behind, and a mounted cavass on each 
 flank, are wending their way to the lines through 
 the market. Quite a procession ! My servants are 
 my staff. I never hear these sort of things from the 
 officials, who are bribed, I expect, to keep silence. 
 
 7 P. M. A small bright fire in direction of and 
 below Halfeyeh, lasting scarcely a minute. I flatter 
 myself I keep a good look-out.*^ 
 
 ^ 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.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 249 
 
 Two soldiers came to Omdurman, escaping from 
 the Arabs this evening. Nothing new. 
 
 One of the trying things of this existence is the 
 way that one is waylaid as one goes out with peti- 
 tions for dhoora, and howled at. These are the times 
 when one feels amiably disposed towards the gentle- 
 men who have ruled in Cairo for the last seven years. 
 
 November 2. — Those men I sent out ostensibly 
 to the Arabs have given in, and I have let them 
 back into town. I hate these coercive measures. 
 But what is to be done ? This frightening them is 
 better than putting them in prison, or chaining them. 
 No words are of any avail, or orders. Two Dervishes 
 with their weapons presented themselves before lines 
 this morning, saying they had a letter from the 
 Mahdi for me (at Mesalamieh Gate). I said, 
 " Leave the letter and go back ; I will not let you 
 in. It is no use any more writing." 
 
 The Arabs fired on the lines near the White Nile. 
 We answered, and committed some damage, from all 
 appearance ; for the whole Dem turned out. I have 
 forbidden all fii-ing on the Arabs, unless they come 
 so near as to injure our people ; for I expect this 
 vague firing is only performed by the captured sol- 
 diers to conform, in appearance, to the orders of the 
 Arab chiefs. 
 
 Letter has come in ; ^* it is an address to the whole 
 town ; it has no seal, the usual rubbish about the 
 Mahdi being Mahdi, &c. A soldier came in from 
 the Arabs at Omdurman ; he says the Mahdi is not 
 in the cave, but in a tent (very stupid man !). Some 
 
 ^ Appendix V.
 
 250 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 one has stolen 93,000 okes of biscuit ; this robbery 
 took place nearly a year ago, and was only found 
 out two days ago. The people of the town wonder 
 at one's getting no information ; the last I had was 
 from Kitchener, dated 31st August, and received 
 17th September, now forty-six days ago. Had our 
 people sent to Kassala vid Massowah,*^ there is no 
 doubt information could have got through, but it is 
 no use saying any more on the subject. I suppose 
 you acted according to " your conscience, best of 
 your ability, and custom of war in like cases." 
 
 3.30 p. M. Sentries off the roof of the North 
 Fort again ; sent over to bave them flogged ! 
 
 Rectified list of biscuit is 266,430 okes. 
 
 Dhoora is 2110 ardebs in magazine to-day — six 
 weeks' consumption ! ! and then the sponge must be 
 thrown up. 
 
 I covdd write volumes of pent-up wrath on this 
 subject if I did not believe things are ordained and 
 all work for the best. I am not at all inclined to 
 order haK rations with a view to any prolongation 
 of our blockade ; if I did so, it would probably end 
 in a catastrophe ^ before the time, in which, if full 
 rations are given, we should have exhausted our 
 supplies. I should be an angel (which I am not, 
 needless to say) if I was not rabid with Her Maj- 
 esty's Government ; but I hope I may be quiet on 
 the subject of this Soudan and Cairo business, with 
 its indecision ; but to lose all my beautiful black 
 
 46 Massowah is only 466 miles from Kartoum, and less than half that 
 distance from Kassala. — Ed. 
 
 46 L e. In mutiny or a stampede to the Madhi. "The belly governs 
 the whole world." — Ed.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 251 
 
 soldiers is enough to make one angry with those 
 who have the direction of our future.*'^ 
 
 Arabs fired four rounds this evening towards the 
 lines near White Nile, but did no harm (one shell 
 fell in the town) with their Krupp. 
 
 JV^ovember 3. — Two women and one boy came 
 into Omdurman from the Arabs ; also seven cows 
 walked into the same place. To-day is our anni- 
 versary of Hicks's defeat. I have let out several of 
 the men whom I had arrested as adherents of the 
 Mahdi ; they have had a good warning. 
 
 4 P. M. The Bordee7i in sight : I have let out the 
 Sheikh el Islam, Cadi, and the old Mudir. A sol- 
 dier came from the Arabs to Omdurman ; he says 
 Slatin is a prisoner for the last three days. With 
 this man came in a spy from the Mahdi, whom I 
 put in prison. The Mahdi has sent regulars to the 
 rear. I shall send down the Bordeen the day after 
 to-morrow to Metemma, and shall send the debris^ 
 Tongi & Co., down with the steamer, and you can 
 send them on to Cairo. I think this is noble on 
 my part, for you get their boats and they use your 
 camels. The post has come in from the Bordeen. 
 Kitchener's letter, saying '-'• Ahhas was captured" 
 was a terrible blow (I send back the letters sent to 
 Stewart in envelope).^^ 
 
 Kitchener asks who were on board : Stewart, 
 Power, and Herbin, the French Consul, and the 
 
 ^"^ Here again General Gordon is really angry, and breaks off with a 
 humourous touch about his black soldiers, so that he may, as it were, 
 hold himself in. — Ed. 
 
 ^8 Appendix X.
 
 252 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 Greeks named in the mai'gin on the other side.*^ 
 I cannot understand it, for the general ojjinion was 
 that the route was quite safe for the Abbas, which 
 had a mountain gun and some fifty soldiers in her. 
 I can only put it down to some treachery on the 
 part of the Arabs pretending to be friends. 
 
 I cannot decipher Lord Wolseley's telegram,^*^ for 
 Stewart took the cipher-books. (Please inform For- 
 eign Office of this, for if he [Stewart] is killed, and 
 the Abbas captured, they, the cipher-books, are in 
 the hands of the Mahdi.) I think cipher-messages 
 are in some countries, like this, a mistake. 
 
 The Shendy steamers sent back ten wounded 
 from Shendy, one seriously ; and I hear they had 
 five killed. For goodness' sake do not send back 
 any Egyptians, noto in steamers, to Kartoum ; I 
 include Pashas, officers, men, and exclude the sail- 
 ors, engineers, and captains of steamers. 
 
 If the Abbas is lost, I hope a Court of Inquiry 
 will be held on the departure of Col. Stewart and 
 Messrs. Power and Herbin ; for when they left we 
 had no news of an Expedition of Relief — vide my 
 Journal; also it was generally believed that the pas- 
 
 ^9 List of Greeks who went in the steamer Abbas, 10 Sept. '84. 
 
 Demitrios Kapnoulas. Demosthen Kapilos. 
 
 George Kepetzakos. Demitrios Georgopoulos. 
 
 Herial Bolaiiaki. George Kontis. 
 
 Alexandre Genacari. Xenophon Apostolidls. 
 
 Nasum Abagui. George Tantzos. 
 
 Nessim Morinos. Jean Stergioii. 
 
 Demitrios Perdicakis. Nicolas Kouvaras. 
 
 Michel Nomikos. Jean Dermitrzakis. 
 
 Stauros Papadakis. Michel Chatzi Christodoulou. 
 
 Jean Prospion. 
 ^ Appendix X-
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 253 
 
 sage of the Abbas down was an absolute certainty 
 without clanger. I also add that Stewart, Herbin, 
 and Power left of their own free will, and without 
 any order from me, as the papers captured would 
 show, if ever available. I refused to order, but I 
 said, " If you like to go, I will assist you. to go. It 
 is at your own risk. The service you will perform 
 is great, and you can do no good here." / wrote 
 this to Col. Steivart, in an official letter. 
 
 November 4. — I received private letters from 
 Stanley, dated Congo, 5th May, and from Sir S. 
 Baker, 1st June. I like the official note written on 
 the envelope of Sir Samuel Baker's letter to me — 
 "Communications avec la Soudan interromp^es." 
 I should think the communications were interrom- 
 pees ! ! ! 
 
 The Arabs have one gun at Shendy and one gun at 
 Metemma ; they struck the Mansoxorali four times. 
 
 I looked upon the descent of the Abbas as a cer- 
 tainty. I looked upon the relief •of Kartoum as 
 most uncertain ; hence I sent down the cipher-books 
 of the Foreign Office. Perhaps the Abbas got 
 wrecked on the Cataract. It is very sad. There is 
 a report that the Sheildi el Obeyed is dead ; if true, 
 it will simplify that vexed question with Foreign 
 Office of the man and the city. Arabs fired five 
 shells at the lines to-day ; we answered with two, 
 and they retired. If the capture of steamer is 
 corroborated, tell French Consul-General that the 
 Mahdi has his cipher, which was with Herbin. If the 
 Abbas was captured by treachery, then I am not to
 
 254 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 blame ; neither am I to blame if she struck a roch^ 
 for she drew under two feet of water ; and fifty 
 boats (sailing) used to go down yearly to Cairo, 
 with high Nile ; if they loere attacked and overpow- 
 ered, then I am to blame, for I ought to have fore- 
 seen the chance, and prevented their going. But 
 when they left we knew nothing of the Expedition, 
 and I passed them under escort through Berber, 
 which was the apparent only danger they had to 
 meet. The Mahdi, if it is true that he has captured 
 the Abbas, found two of his own seals,^^ which we 
 had forged but did not use, also all his letters to 
 me, and the Journal was in most careful detail, hour 
 by hour, so to say. Steamer leaves at daybreak, 
 5th November, 1884. 
 
 C. G. Gordon. 
 
 61 See Mahdi's remarks upon this in Appendix U.
 
 BOOK VI.
 
 EVENTS AT KARTOUM. 
 From 5 November to 14 December, 1884. 
 
 General Gordon's Journal 
 Vol. VI. 
 To be pruned down, if published. 
 
 C. G. GORDON. 
 
 Copy of Letter that accompanied this Diary. 
 Sir, Kartoum, 10 Nov., 1884. 
 
 Since departure, 10 Sept., of Lt.-Colonel Stewart, C. M. 
 G., I have kept a daily journal of all events at Kartoum, which 
 contains also nay private opinions upon certain facts, which 
 perhaps it is just as well you should know confidentially. You 
 can of course make extracts of all official matter, and will 
 naturally leave my private opinions out in the case of pubhca- 
 tion. I have already sent five portions of this Journal, and now 
 send the sixth portion. 
 
 I have the honour to be. 
 Sir, 
 Your most obedient servant, 
 
 C. G. GORDON. 
 
 The Chief of the Staff, 
 Soudan Expeditionary Force.
 
 JOURNAL. 
 
 EVENTS AT KARTOUM. 
 
 November 5. — Steamer Bordeen left this even- 
 ing for Metemma. According to all accounts the 
 presence of the steamers at Shendy and Metemma 
 cause the Arabs great annoyance, for the Arab chief 
 of Berber keeps calling for them to come down and 
 help him ; while they say, " If we do, then the 
 steamers will pillage our houses." I cannot get out 
 of my head the Abbas catastrophe ; that the Abbas 
 (with her 970 bullet marks on her, her gun, and her 
 parapets, which were bullet-proof), could be cap- 
 tured by force, seems impossible ; that she ran ujaon 
 a rock seems unlikely, for she had her sides de- 
 fended by buffers, sunk one foot in water. I also 
 had warned them against ever anchoring by the 
 bank, also to take wood from isolated spots ; in fact, 
 as far as human foresight goes, I did all my possi- 
 ble. Why did you let them go ? The matter was 
 thus. I determined to send the Abbas down with 
 an Arab captain. Herbin asked to be allowed to 
 go. I jumped at his offer. Then Stewart said he 
 would go, if I would exonerate him from deserting 
 me. I said you do not desert me. 1:1 cannot 
 go ; but if you go, you do great service. I then 
 
 17
 
 258 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 wrote him an official ; he wanted me to write him 
 an order. I said " No, for though I fear not respon- 
 sibility, I will not put you in any danger in which I 
 am not myself." I wrote them a letter, couched 
 thus : " Abbas is going down ; you say you are will- 
 ing to go in her, if I think you can do so in honour 
 — you can go in honour, for you can do nothing 
 here, and if you go you do me service in telegraph- 
 ing my views." You will notice the number of 
 Greeks. They were a body-guard I ordered and 
 paid highly, to prevent any treachery on the part of 
 the crew. Thus the question of treachery was duly 
 weighed by me and guarded against, as far as I 
 could — both on the part of the crew and on the 
 part of the inhabitants — and I told them to anchor 
 mid stream, and not to take wood except in isolated 
 spots. ^ 
 
 I escorted them by two steamers past every place 
 where danger could be apprehended, viz., Berber 
 and Shendy. They appear to have been captured 
 in a comparatively thinly populated place, below 
 Abou Hanied. I feel somehow convinced they were 
 captured by treachery — the Arabs pretending to 
 be friendly — and surprising them at night. I will 
 own that, without reason (apparently, for the chorus 
 was, that the ti'ijy loas safe) I have never been com- 
 fortable since they left. Stewart was a man who 
 did not chew the cud, he never thought of danger in 
 
 1 It is impossible to read this without a feeling of admiration for the 
 thorough wa3' in which General Gordon examined into the minutest de- 
 tails 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.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOUR.NAL 259 
 
 prospective; he was not a bit suspicious (while I 
 am made up of it). I can see in imagination the 
 whole scene,2 the Sheikh inviting them to land, say- 
 ing, " Thank God the Malidi is a liar " — bringing 
 in wood — men going on shore and dispersed. The 
 Abbas with her steam down, then a rush o£ wild 
 Arabs, and all is over ! A spy said something of a 
 chief having pretended to be friendly, and when the 
 Abbas was near, rushing on her, but then he said 
 the Abbas turned on them, and killed seventy-two 
 or seventy-three (see back page of this Journal).^ 
 It is very sad, but being ordained, we must not mur- 
 mur. I look on it as being a Nemesis on the death 
 of the two Pashas. 
 
 2 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 Gen- 
 eral Gordon's return to Kartouni a steamer, with fortj^ 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 reas- 
 sure the natives, declaring that they had not come to make war, but to 
 purchase camels in order to cross the desert to Merow^. 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 re- 
 quested them to leave the steamer and accept their hospitality until 
 preparations had been completed for crossing the desert. The invita- 
 tion was accepted, and the party entered a house, where thej' were all 
 massacred. The Sheikhs afterwards returned to the steamer and killed 
 most of them on board. Of forty persons onh' 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. 
 
 8 /. e. details of the fighting strength of the Abbas. — Ed.
 
 260 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 I do sincerely hope you will have a strict examina- 
 tion into the question of Stewart, Power, and Herbin 
 going down. What makes me think so much of 
 the capture being by treachery is, that the two sail- 
 ing-boats which went with the Abhas have not ar- 
 rived at Debbeh, for if the Abbas struck on a rock, 
 why could not the boats come on? I expect they 
 were all caught at one coup. 11 P. m. last night 
 Arabs fired twelve shells into the town from their 
 Krupps on the South Front ; they did not frighten 
 us and did no harm. At midnight they fired two 
 or three volleys of musketry with no effect. Four 
 soldiers came in from the Arabs at Omdurman. 
 They state the Mahdi sent a party of Arabs to Sen- 
 naar ; the garrison sallied out and killed nearly all 
 of them. Also that the Baggara Arabs, under pre- 
 tence of getting better pasturage for their cattle, 
 asked the Mahdi to let them go from his camp some 
 distance ; he agreed, and they have bolted — they are 
 his best horsemen — also that the people no longer 
 regard the Mahdi as before. Hussein Pasha Khalifa 
 is ffood friends with the Mahdi. The Arabs came 
 near Bourr^ and fired a few shots, and then went 
 back. I expect that the Arabs sent the regulars out, 
 and go through this as a mere form. One of these 
 men * was with Slatin Bey when he surrendered, and 
 says he did so when he had plenty of food and am- 
 munition, and that he (Slatin) is on the best terms 
 with the Mahdi. We shall not know the truth 
 until the other Europeans get out of the Mahdi's 
 clutches. 
 
 4 Who came in.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 261 
 
 Stewart had about X60 in gold with him, and evety 
 -paper connected with our mission. I purposely kept 
 none here, for one did not know what one day would 
 bring forth ; when he left on the 10th of September 
 we had lost over 800 men killed, and 978 Reming- 
 tons, with a lot of ammunition on 4th of September, 
 only six days before he left. Baker tells me news : 
 he says Clifford Lloyd has left on account of row 
 with Nubar, and that China and France have come 
 to terms. 
 
 One shell from the Arabs went over the town and 
 fell in the river. 
 
 I have mentioned that Stewart's Journal contained 
 all events from 1st March, 1884, to 10th September, 
 and if lost there is only the Journal of the Doctor, 
 which begins 7th March, 1884. 
 
 I wish the correspondent of the Times to know 
 this, and to be told that the Doctor has pi'omiseci me 
 that the Times shall have the first offer of that Jour- 
 nal. Stewart was wounded near the Palace, at 6 A. M. 
 on Sunday, 25th May, in the arm (flesh wound). If 
 Sennaar has beaten back the Arabs a second time I 
 cannot see how it is possible to abandon the garrison, 
 and if they are to be relieved, I see at least a delay 
 of four months ; all this could be avoided by hand- 
 ing the Soudan over to the Sultan with a subsidy. 
 When Stewart left we were at the lowest ebb, the 
 Arabs from Kordofau had arrived with their guns, 
 and our three steamers were just in from Sennaar, 
 with seven shot holes in them. 
 
 Hansall, the Austrian Consul, has a daily journal ; 
 Power and Herbin had one also.
 
 262 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 I have captured ^ all the European telegrams 
 which we sent and which we received. I shall hand 
 them over to you, as they are in cipher, and as you 
 may have the F. O. cipher-books, you can peruse 
 them. Stewart (as I have said) carried off the 
 cipher books with him ; he had two copies of the 
 Journal, but I did not like to ask him to leave one 
 here, as I said, "you can send one home, while you 
 keep the copy to refer to." 
 
 I send with this the firman of Towfik and the let- 
 ters,^ respecting the troops withdrawing, which I re- 
 ceived at Cairo on the 23rd January, 1884, and which 
 have not been promulgated. 
 
 If Stewart, Power, and Herbin died because they 
 would not change their religion, they are as much 
 martyrs as Peter or Paul. 
 
 A black boy of ten years was caught by the Arabs 
 outside of the lines this morning, collecting grass, 
 and he escaped from them this evening and came 
 back to the town ; he is a smart boy. 
 
 If the Abbas is taken, the Mahdi has the small 
 seal I used in my former time, and he captured at 
 fall of Berber my large seal, so he has both. If it 
 is true, the Abbas must have been captured between 
 
 5 /. 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. 
 
 6 Appendix Y.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 263 
 
 Abou Hamed and Merow^, on or about the 18th Sep- 
 tember. Now, on the 18th September the Arabs 
 must have known of Kitchener being at Debbeh, 
 since he wrote to me from that place on 81st August. 
 Probably Stewart was lulled into security in feel- 
 ing himself so near Merowe, and on account of the 
 news the Sheikh gave him of the advance of the 
 expedition. 
 
 Abou Hamed is one hundred miles from Merowe, 
 which, with the current, the Abbas could do in twelve 
 hours, and there is only one small cataract to pass, 
 which is, by all accounts, an easy one. Stewart had 
 a supreme contempt for the Soudanese people, and 
 for their courage, which I do not share. That our 
 men are not heroes, I agree ; but we had against us 
 the feeling that the Arabs were ten times our num- 
 bers, while we had received no reinforcements what- 
 ever.''^ If he (Stewart) has fallen, it is because he 
 was carried away by the idea the Arabs would not 
 dare to do anything. Power had the same defect, 
 viz., over-rashness in not considering the material 
 they had to support them. You may be very strong 
 yourself, but your strength is of no avail if you are 
 supported by weaker vessels. The rate of progress 
 of a fleet is decided by the speed of the slowest ves- 
 sel ; so up here one ought to work as if the whole mass 
 was as cowardly as the greatest coward in the force. 
 If the Abbas went on a rock she had two boats 
 (which I expressly mentioned to Stewart were to be 
 taken in case of such an accident), and they could 
 
 " That is to say, the men were depressed by the apparent remoteness 
 of their chance of escape.— Ed.
 
 264 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 have got into them, and, with the current, got down 
 easily. I sent, in 1878, a boat with a large tank, in 
 which were four hi2:)popotami (infants) ; it got down 
 to Cairo in fifty days from here, and Stewart had 
 the Reis, or pilot of that boat, in the Abbas. Hu- 
 manly speaking, when Stewart left here the condi- 
 tion of Kartoum was desperate ; while, on the other 
 hand, when once the Abbas passed Berber, which we 
 escorted her past, the certainty was she would reach 
 Dongola, and even we discussed whether Dongola 
 might not have fallen, and agreed that the Abbas 
 even in that case could have got down to Wady 
 Haifa, in which case I told Stewart to go on with her 
 to Cairo. Men may not remember the case of Cap- 
 tain . . . who took a middy up against Taepings 
 with him, which middy was killed. Middy's father 
 . . . made a great row about this. Why did . . . 
 take the middy up, &c. I say, in defence of my let- 
 ting Stewart go, that both he, Power, and Herbin 
 felt our situation here was desperate after the defeat 
 at El foun ; that I had, over and over again, said it 
 was impossible for me to go, physically impossible, 
 because even my servants would have betrayed me 
 (even if I had felt inclined to leave), and I would 
 die here (even going so far as to have two mines 
 brought to the Palace with which to blow it up if 
 the place fell). These three men's ideas were that 
 it was shabby to leave me ; but when I showed them 
 they could do no possible good by being prisoners, 
 and when I said I shall send the Abbas with the 
 Journal, then, first, Herbin, then Stewart, and then 
 Power, said they would go in her. A long conver-
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 266 
 
 sation took place between me and Stewart, he wish- 
 ing me to order, I declining to do so, on account of 
 eventualities which might arise: it ended in my 
 writing the letter I alluded to in former pages of 
 the Journal. I avow I was glad they went, 1. be- 
 cause I thought it was quite safe ; 2. because I 
 knew if Europe knew of the state of affairs the 
 Government would be shamed into action. 
 
 Remember that this was when the last telegram ^ 
 from Egerton was to the effect that " Her Majesty's 
 Government \^ould pay o?i delivery for all who came 
 down, if I contracted with Arabs." Stewart's idea 
 was that every order of Her Majesty's Government, 
 or wish that they expressed, was indisputable. We 
 often discussed the nuisance we must have been to 
 Her Majesty's Government in being sent up here, 
 and I think he was, to some degree, actuated by a 
 desire to aid Her Majesty's Government when he 
 went down, for then it only left one nuisance (my- 
 self), and I had so completely exonerated Her Maj- 
 esty's Government by my letters, and the notes in 
 his Journal, that they might, as far as I was con- 
 cerned, have let the garrison fall. On my part, I 
 do not think I could have done Her Majesty's Gov- 
 ernment a better service than to have, at any rate, 
 tried to send Stewart down with Power and Herbin, 
 for certainly it only left a small remnant here of 
 Europeans (owe of whom is mad}, and the French 
 Government could no longer say a word. Next, 
 Stewart knew everything, and could tell Her Maj- 
 esty's Government the pros and cons, from their 
 
 8 Egypt, '84, No. 22.
 
 266 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 point of view, and with feelings akin to theirs, which 
 they would accept from Stewart, and never without 
 suspicion from me (in which they are justified, for I 
 do not look on things from their point of view). I 
 told Stewart also, " I know you will act conscien- 
 tiously and honourably ; but I know your opinions, 
 and, therefore, as you have all my views on the Sou- 
 dan in your Journal, I beg you will, in answering 
 queries of Her Majesty's Government, make extracts 
 from the Journal, and state, ' General G. says this, 
 or that,' while you are at full liberty to give your 
 opinion, even if it differs from mine, but let Her 
 Majesty's Government know wheji I answer and 
 luhen you answer." Stewart, the night he left, 
 wrote at my dictation a series of questions, which I 
 answered on half-margin of the same paper, and in 
 which I said, " If Her Majesty's Government have 
 not acted up to time when you get down, then it is 
 too late, and it is no use doing anything." 
 
 A curious thing has happened ; my friend Kitch- 
 ener sent up the post ; he wrapped the letters in 
 some old newspapers (he gave me no news in his 
 letter), the old newspapers were thrown out in the 
 garden : there a clerk who knew some English found 
 them blowing about, and gave them to the apothe- 
 cary of the hospital, who knows English. The Doc- 
 tor found him reading them, saw date 15th /Septem- 
 ber, and secured them for me ; they are like gold, as 
 you may imagine, s'nce we have had no news since 
 ^'4th February, 1884 . 
 
 These papers gave us far more information than 
 any of your letters. Did K. send them by accident
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 267 
 
 or on purpose ? Abyssinian ambassadors in London, 
 Walmer Castle, &c. ; my black troops beating back 
 Ras Aloula at Keren, not recognizing the Hewitt 
 Treaty, and killing 194 of the Abyssinians, at Keren, 
 vide Standard, 1 and 15 September. Lord Wolse- 
 ley seen off at Victoria Station, for the Gordon re- 
 lief expedition ! I JSfO ! for the relief of Soudan 
 garrisons. Khedive expressing delight at seeing 
 Lord N., while during the audience the Khedive dis- 
 played great cordiality towards Lord N. Abdel Ka- 
 der saying you would have four hard fights. I do 
 not believe it. ^ 
 
 It apj)ears that these newspapers were chucked 
 out of the Palace ; but that a man saw the papers 
 were thrown out, and said to the cavass, " Give me 
 those papers to wrap up tobacco." The cavass 
 gave them, and the Doctor's assistant going to the 
 shop saw them, and seeing the date, took them, and 
 then the Doctor got them. 
 
 I think that the defeat of Ras Aloula, at Keren, 
 if true, is splendid ; when the Abyssinian Ambassa- 
 dors were being entertained at Walmer Castle. 
 The Hewitt Treaty, instead of aiding us, aj)pears 
 only to have added to our enemies. 
 
 It does seem wonderful if Her Majesty's Govern- 
 ment have made a treaty with King John to give 
 
 8 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 
 Haifa 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 laie.^' Ed.
 
 268 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 over Bogos, i. e. Keren, i. e. Senheit, to him (with 
 other places), that orders were not sent to the for- 
 tress to evacuate ; but if the papers we secured are 
 true, that Ras Aloula was beaten back, it is evident 
 no such orders were given. What an extraordinary 
 state of affairs ! Mitzakis, in his letter to Greek 
 Consul here of date 25th of August, says, that 2^os- 
 session will he taken of Keren (i. e. Senheit, i. e. 
 Bogos) at once ; and then we have the telegram from 
 Massowah that Ras Aloula has attacked Keren, and 
 lost heavily (^vide the Standard of 1st September). 
 By these papers, miraculously secured, I see we have 
 made Minister of Interior Abdel Kader Pasha ; ac- 
 cording to all accounts up here, he is " Abdel Kader 
 and the forty thieves in one. " ^^ 
 
 November 6. — Three horsemen and four footmen 
 (Arabs) came opposite Bourr^ to-day on right bank 
 of the Nile, and fired a few shots, and went off on 
 our firing two shots from Krupp. Also, the Arabs 
 came down with their guns to the White Nile end of 
 lines, and fired on the santals. A soldier of ours 
 came in from Sheikh el Obeyed wdth his wife and 
 child ; he says Sheikh el Obeyed died four days ago 
 (to the great relief of Sanderson) ; now we have only 
 the city to deal with. Two more soldiers came in 
 from Arabs at Omdurman. The Arabs fired seven 
 rounds from their guns on the lines near the White 
 Nile. A post was captured by Sheikh el Obeyed 
 (with European letters, coming from Kassala) just 
 before his death ; the porter of these letters was 
 kiUed. 
 
 1" See Ismailia, vol. i., p. 31. — Ed.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 269 
 
 I expect that the naming of the expedition the 
 Gordon Relief Expedition is because the fiction 
 " that Her Majesty's Government has no responsi- 
 hility toioards the Soudan cmd its garrisons''^ is 
 going to be held to, and that the object of the ex- 
 pedition thus named will be considered as accom- 
 plished, if Kartoum is reached; but in that case, 
 how can the sending up Stewart and me be ex- 
 plained? It was certainly because our Government 
 thought they were responsible that we were sent ; 
 also if Her Majesty's Government has no responsi- 
 bility, why did the troops attack Osman Digna, and 
 relieve Tokar ? ^^ 
 
 The Sheikh el Obeyed' s death will be a heavy blow 
 to the Arabs, for his following will no longer hold 
 together. 
 
 Another soldier, with his wife, has come in at 
 Omdurman. 
 
 These men report Sheikh el Obeyed dead, and that 
 he is succeeded by his son Achmet, and that not 
 more than 1000 or 1500 are with him ; the Mahdi 
 and the Arabs are against any attack on the Kar- 
 toum lines. A good many Baggara are still with 
 Mahdi, who is daily losing followers. 
 
 A soldier was severely wounded this morning at 
 Bourre. 
 
 They say Sheikh el Obeyed died of chagrin. He 
 would not go and see the Mahdi, who sent him word 
 to give up all his property. 
 
 What a fury King John will be in, if it is true 
 
 11 General Gordon has already fully explained wherein the responsi- 
 bility of Her Majesty's Government towards the Soudan lies. — Ed.
 
 270 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 Keren has fired ou and killed his men ; he will 
 swear it is Towfik's treachery. I wonder who are 
 the Treaty Powers — Towfik and King John, or our 
 Government and King John ? Keren is only three 
 days from Massowah, and it is not likely they would 
 invent this telegram. It makes one laugh, to think 
 of this addition to our enemies kindly given us. 
 
 The soldier (who came in with his wife and two 
 childi'en) says that Sheikh el Obeyed captured a 
 post with the Arab and European letters ; that he 
 sat for some time in a comatose state, and then died ; 
 that his people are all dispersing. This is a great 
 comfort, for we will have (Z). V.) no fighting there. 
 A soldier and his mother have come in. They say 
 the Mahdi moved his camp to-day four hours f ui'ther 
 off. This evening the Arabs fired six times, with 
 theii' guns, on the lines near the White Nile. 
 
 I knew Harrison ^^ would come. Extract A ^^ on 
 
 12 Colonel Harrison, C. B., C. M. G., R. E. —Ed. 
 
 13 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 go- 
 ing 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 Gov- 
 ernment have decided to dispatch to the seat of disturbance further rein- 
 forcements 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 Ex- 
 peditionary Force comes to his relief. — Ed.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 271 
 
 the other side shows you, A. if you cannot protect 
 dhows nov:. how will you do so if all the Soudan 
 falls into hands of the ^lahdi ? Also extract B re- 
 specting rebellion in Hedjaz, will show all theix lands 
 are in a fermenting state, and will be well worked 
 up by the ^lahdi if he erer gets to Kartoum- An- 
 other man who came in says the ^lahdi has drawn 
 closer to Omdumian- and has not gone further of. 
 I haye an idea the Arabs will make a try to take 
 the place. A soldier was wounded on the lines 
 near the White Xile this evening : he was fishing. 
 and got hit. It certainly does seem most miraculous 
 that Suakin should be besieged— and dhows c-ap- 
 tured close to it : no lesson has yet been taught these 
 Arabs. 
 
 y^oremher 7. — We captured two cows to-day at 
 Bourre. Mahdi's camp is now alongside of Faki 
 Mustapha's, which is one hour and a half from the 
 fort Omdurman. 
 
 A large body of Arabs left, with carayan. the 
 Dem of Faki Mustapha. in a north-west direction. 
 towards the Gabra Wells, the Kababish head-quar- 
 ters. The Dem of the 31ahdi is not fer from the 
 river, by which I conjecture he has his Krupps 
 in position near there. Church parade going on- 
 average size. I am anxious for the flaTik of the 
 lines ending on the White Xile,-^ and have sent up a 
 steamer to stay there. Four soldiers, one slave, and 
 two women came from the Arabs to Omdurman- 
 
 2=5 ^-^V- -was ix thy tinie bssisged ms ibe 3*Ed soiie. — Er. 
 Boarre to ibe MctiriBa Fort- — Ed.
 
 272 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 The Mahdi means to attack Omdurman ; he has 
 received 120 camels of ammunition; Slatin is in 
 chains. These men say the Mahdi and the Arabs 
 have not the least intention of risking their skins 
 against the fort, but will shove on the Black Regu- 
 lars they have captured. It is like fighting one's 
 OAvn flesh and blood ; it is not fair warfare. ^^ 
 
 If I am inclined to be vicious I have some little 
 excuse, with woinen yelling for dhoora, under the 
 Palace windows ! Church parade to-day, and the 
 approach nearer to us of the Mahdi' s camp, and his 
 sending for and getting 120 camel loads of ammuni- 
 tion, does not show he is wanting in confidence, for 
 if he did fear, he would never have sent for 500,000 
 rounds of ammunition ; or if he had sent for it, he 
 would have stopped its coming, had he feared the 
 advance. The fact is that the Tokar affair, with 
 the non-following up of the victory, i" has given him 
 great confidence, which is strengthened by his Arabs 
 capturing dhows and firing on the lines of Suakin 
 with impunity. Perhaps the non-firing on Suakin 
 for three days (August) 30 means that the Haden- 
 dowa Arabs have gone to assist Berber ! I wonder 
 whether it has not been observed, that Suakin is 
 perfectly useless if the Soudan is in the hands of 
 the Mahdi. I declare I think he (the Mahdi) has a 
 
 18 General Gordon had great admiration and affection for the Black 
 Regulars. — Ed. 
 
 1'^ Baring to Lord Granville, March Qth, 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 Eng- 
 lish troops being sent to Berber." — Egypt, No. 12, 1884, No. 214.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 273 
 
 fair chance of getting to Mecca, if the rebellion in 
 the Hedjaz goes on, and he gets Kartoum. 
 
 The Mahdi may, and I daresay has good iniorma- 
 tion from Cairo, as to the intention of the expedition, 
 or he may reason, " They will relieve Kartoum, leave 
 me alone in my camp, and go back." If the Govern- 
 ment instructions are definite, and going to be car- 
 ried out at any cost, and if they are to the effect 
 that a Rapid Retreat is to take place, then nothing 
 more is to be said. All I ask for then, is to be put 
 out of my place here,^^ to go on my way, and be 
 no more employed. That is not an unreasonable 
 demand, for my mission here was a special one, 
 and not obligatory, like a military duty ; and in my 
 position of Governor - General I am quite justified 
 in having said and done everything for the people 
 over whom I was placed by Towfik (following the 
 '"'■ fiction " that he was independent) that I thought 
 would secure them safety. If it is determined to 
 abandon Sennaar and Kassala (following t\\Q fiction 
 that the King of Abyssinia will look after them), 
 also the Equator, to their fate, after their gallant 
 defence, there is nothing more to be said, and the 
 sooner this action is performed the better, if it is to 
 be performed at all. To execute the operation, if it 
 is confined to the evacuation of Kartoum, I can be of 
 no possible use, and I do not care to wait and see the 
 Mahdi walk in on your heels into Kartoum, which 
 we have held against him for so many months ; 
 neither do I wish to see Her Majesty's forces dogged 
 by these Arabs all the way to Wady Haifa, or to 
 
 18 1.6, to be removed from my position as Governor-General. — Ed. 
 18
 
 274 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 receive the remonstrances of those who have stuck 
 to me. I am sure I have now written so fully on 
 all these subjects that there can be little room for 
 further discussion : you have to make up your mind 
 and act. I have f uUy expressed my views and de- 
 sires, and shall take^ or try to take, very philosoph- 
 ically your decision ; though I do most emphatically 
 protest against this abandonment, which will lead to 
 greater disasters, and is unworthy of our country. 
 
 The men who came in to-day say the Mahdi will 
 attack Omdiirman to-morrow. The following deci- 
 sions have to be taken if the rapid retreat is carried 
 out : — 
 
 1. Are the Government stores to be destroyed ? 
 
 2. Are you prepared to supply transport for all 
 who wish to go down? 
 
 3. Will you disarm the Shaggyeh ere you leave ? 
 
 4. What will you do with the steamers ? 
 
 I declare I should tremble to give these orders. 
 As Governor-General / never loould do it. 
 
 5. Will you write to Sennaar and Kassala, and 
 inform them of what you mean to do, and exonerate 
 me? 
 
 (A slave came in from the Arabs. He says the 
 Arabs will not attack the lines ; that the regulars 
 are all over with the Mahdi on the left bank.) 
 
 6. Will you negotiate with the Mahdi (no use, I 
 expect) in re the deliverance of the prisoners (Euro- 
 pean) he has with him ? 
 
 7. Would you object to aiding the black troops 
 to go to Sennaar and to fight out the question, with 
 the view of saving Sennaar and Kassala garrisons ?
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 275 
 
 Two soldiers and one slave came in from Arabs 
 at Oradurman ; they say the Mahdi will not attack 
 directly, that Slatin is in chains for writing to Kar- 
 toum ; also Saleh Pasha. The Arabs fired two 
 rounds from their guns towards the lines near the 
 White Nile this evening. They fell short. 
 
 Supposing Kartoum evacuated, then Sennaar and 
 Kassala fall. The Arabs now fire on the lines at 
 Suakin, and capture dhows in the Red Sea, and 
 there is a revolt in the Hedjaz. What is to prevent 
 the Mahdi's adherents gaining Mecca, where there 
 are not 2000 men? Once at Mecca, we may look 
 out for squalls in Turkey, &c. 
 
 If decision is taken on the Rapid Retreat proceed- 
 ing, the Consuls should be warned on your arrival. 
 • If the British Government had only given us 
 Zubair Pasha in March, when I asked for him, we 
 would not have lost Berber, and would never have 
 wanted an expedition. We would have beaten the 
 Mahdi without any exterior help ; it is sad, when 
 the Mahdi is moribund, that we should, by evacua- 
 tion of Kartoum, raise him again. The defect I 
 labored under has been that I presented no rallying 
 point to the people, not being of their nation or 
 creed. ^^ 
 
 The Arabs began musketry fire on Bourre at 1 
 p. M., and before, this morning. It was quite like 
 old times, when it used to go on for months. I 
 
 19 " 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 ith, 188i. Egypt, No. 12. Enclosure 5, in No. 202.
 
 276 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 never got accustomed to it, for I knew what troops 
 we had, and it always murdered sleep. 
 
 Novemher 8. — It must be obvious that if Zubair 
 was with you, and installed as Governor-General, 
 with a semi-independent position and a subsidy, in 
 the present decaying position of the Mahdi, and 
 your temporary presence, he would rally around him 
 a huge following, who are now disgusted with the 
 Mahdi and his Dervishes, but who will be obliged to 
 hold to him, because you evacuate ; even those peo- 
 ple with us, we per force oblige to join the Mahdi. 
 Zubair' s installation would save you all the bother 
 of the Sennaar evacuation. You would have only 
 to stay up here a couple of months, and perhaps 
 have to keep a detachment at Berber and Dongolat 
 (in order that Zubair might get up more munitions) 
 for a time. You have now boats fitted for the com- 
 munication by the Nile, vid Abou Hamed, and Zubair 
 could soon put them along the Nile in a chain. As 
 for the slave-trade,^*^ the Mahdi will be ten times 
 worse than Zubair, and you could make the payment 
 of the subsidy (to Zubair) contingent on his not 
 doing it on any vast scale. The Zubair solution is 
 the sort of half-way house between rapid retreat and 
 continued occupation, either by Turks or yourself. 
 
 The Mahdi coidd never get the people to rise 
 against Zubair ; it will be only because they are 
 presented with no rallying point, and per force they 
 will join him if you leave. They never would have 
 joined the Mahdi if Zubair had come up. It is only 
 because Zubair was not here that Berber fell. 
 
 20 See accounts of slave-hunting in the Bahr Gazelle, App. U, b.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 277 
 
 6.30 A. M. — Arabs streaming across from the 
 White Nile to Bourre. Some Arabs on the right 
 bank of the Bhie Nile look as if they are coming 
 down that bank to the North Fort. I have ordered 
 up the steamers Ismailia and Husseinyeh. The 
 Arabs have found our weak point, i. e. prolongation 
 of our lines at Bourre, but the steamers will drive 
 them out. 
 
 Arabs 
 
 7.30 A. M. — Fight still going on, steamer coming 
 up the river. 8.30 a. m. — Steamers went up and 
 drove the Arabs off the right bank of the Blue Nile, 
 who were enfilading our lines. The firing, which 
 has been continuous for four hours, has pretty well 
 ceased. Up to this we have had no killed or 
 wounded, I am glad to say. During the night the 
 Arabs on the left bank of the White Nile (Mahdi's 
 camp) fired three shells against the lines ending on 
 right bank of the White Nile. A soldier fellciheen 
 is thought to have deserted to the Arabs last night. 
 9 A. M. — The Arabs have collected in the vicinity of 
 Omdurman Fort a heap of cows, who seem drawing- 
 down towards the fort. I have ordered the Ismailia 
 to go down. I expect they will drive the cows on to 
 the fort, and try and explode the mines. The Arabs 
 on the White Nile are firing on the lines with their 
 Krupp. 10 a. M. — Arabs are leaving the vicinity 
 of Bourr^, and going back to their Dem near the
 
 278 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 White Nile. The Arabs near Omdurman village are 
 firing across the river towards Megrim. 
 
 The Austrian Consul, when taking his morning 
 ride, was surprised at seeing two balls strike the 
 water near, and so he returned. 10.45 A. m. — The 
 battles are over, and all is quiet. What a worry all 
 this is! The rockets from Omdurman drove back 
 the advance of the cows ; it was an ingenious at- 
 tempt, if meant.^^ 
 
 I expect the Arabs fired away 30,000 rounds to- 
 day. We had one man killed in small steamer, and 
 owe wounded ; in the fort we had two wounded, and 
 one man was wounded by bursting of rocket tube 
 at Omdurman. I hate these rockets with sticks. 
 Hale's are the only decent ones ; not that the sticks 
 have anything to do with their bursting. The com- 
 position in these climates shrinks away from the 
 case, and the fire flares up the whole of -the exterior 
 and interior of the rocket. I expect we are going 
 to have a series of these festivities, which are so 
 wearisome. In the Ahhas there was a heap of 
 money orders, &c., connected with the merchants 
 here, so sure did they think she would get down. 
 Six soldiers came in from the Arabs, also foiu' 
 slaves, who report the Arabs are thinking of putting 
 a post at Half ey eh. (I hope they wiU not.) The 
 Mahdi has about 8000 men of all sorts with him. 
 Slatin is in chains, also Saleh Pasha. Hussein Pasha 
 Khalifa is great friends with the Mahdi. Omdur- 
 man captured sixteen cows when they came near the 
 
 21 /. e. driving the cows down with the view to their exploding the 
 mines. — Ed.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 279 
 
 fort, also one slave. They killed one Arab. The 
 men who came in say the Arabs mean to continue 
 this day's festivities every day. They do not seem 
 to care much about the advance of the expedition, 
 or are uncommonly confident or ignorant. I do not 
 at aU enjoy the thought of these daily festivities ; 
 they are " abrutissant," as the Austrian Consul says. 
 It is very curious what very little effect all our 
 immense preparations at Dongola, &c., has had on 
 the course of events ; one may say they have not 
 had up to the present the least, while I have weak- 
 ened myself by sending down my steamers ^^ and 
 four hundred men (not, however, of the best qual- 
 ity). I expect we will have the festivity to-morrow 
 on the White Nile end of the lines, which is our 
 weakest part. I must not be blamed at looking for- 
 ward to a repetition of the past miseries ; we truly 
 have had a wearisome time for 241 days ! Another 
 soldier has come in; he says the Mahdi thought 
 Kartoum could be bombarded from his new camp, 
 but finds it cannot be done. If Lord Wolseley did 
 say he hoped to relieve Kartoum before " many 
 months,^'' he must have a wonderful confidence in 
 our powers of endurance, considering that when he is 
 said to have made this utterance, we had been block- 
 aded six and a half months, and are now in our ninth 
 month. I am quite sure of one thing, that the pol- 
 icy followed up till lately (and the policy which 
 may be carried out, of abandoning Sennaar, &c.) is 
 one which will act detrimentally on our army ; for 
 
 22 The steamers General Gordon sent to Metemma to assist the reliev- 
 ing force. — Ed.
 
 280 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 what officer, if he was in a fortress, could have any 
 confidence that it might not be thought advisable to 
 abandon him. Her Majesty's Government told me, 
 or rather my friend Baring told me,^^ I was not to 
 leave Kartoum for the Equator until I had per- 
 mission. I have his telegram (so that if it was pos- 
 sible, or if I could do it) if I did leave Kartoum, I 
 should be acting against orders. This Soudan busi- 
 ness will cost me .£3000 ^ beyond my pay, at least, 
 which I will not ask them or allow them to pay. I 
 shall get it from others, and I shall get another 
 XIOOO to buy Stewart's Journal, if he has been 
 killed or captured. 
 
 Another soldier is in from the Arabs at Omdur- 
 man, which fort has captured four more cows, that is 
 twenty to-day (a cow is worth £20 in town !) £400 ! 
 There is one thing which is quite incomprehensible. 
 If it is right to send up an exjjedition now, why was 
 it not right to send it up before ? It is all very well 
 to say one ought to consider the difficulties of the 
 Government, but it is not easy to get over a feeling, 
 , that " a hope existed of no expedition being neces- 
 sary, owing to our having fallen." As for myself, 
 
 28 Sir E, Baring to Lord Granville. 
 
 " Cairo, March 13th, 1884. 
 
 "I have instructed him (General Gordon) to hold on at Kartoum, un- 
 til 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. 
 
 24 The English Government has, in the most liberal manner, stated it 
 will meet anj' 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.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 281 
 
 personally, I feel no particular rancour on the sub- 
 ject ; but I own I do not care to show I like men, 
 whoever they may be, who act in such a calculating 
 way, and I do not think one is bound to act the 
 hypocrite's part, and pretend to be friendly towards 
 them. If a boy at Eton or Harrow acted towards 
 his fellow in a similar way, / think he would be 
 kicked, and / am sure he would deserve it. I know 
 of no sort of parallel to all this in history, except it 
 be David with Uriah the Hittite, and then there was 
 an Eve in the case, who, I am not aware of, exists 
 in this case. Remember, also, that I do not judge 
 the question of abandoning the garrisons or not: 
 what I judge is the indecision of Government. 
 They did not dare say "abandon the garrison;" so 
 they prevented me leaving for the Equator, with 
 the determination not to relieve me, and the hope 
 (well ! I will not say what their hope was) (" March, 
 April . . . August, why ! he ought to have surren- 
 dered ; he said, six months ") — there is my point of 
 complaint. The second is the FICTION that it is 
 the Egyptian Government which governs Egypt ; it 
 is a silly story, for every one sees through it. Can 
 one imagine a greater farce than Lord Northbrook 
 asking Towfik for the " assistance of Egyptian Gov- 
 ernment to carry out this, or that." I expect the 
 two roared with laughter over it (sorry I cannot 
 manage a sketch of the scene). (Baring would 
 never laugh; it is too serious, like jesting in church.) 
 The third grievance is that Treaty with Abyssinia, 
 under the screen of the " FICTION," (if it is true 
 it has been made) ; however it is a dead letter, I am 
 glad to say.
 
 282 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 November 9th. — Four soldiers, five slaves, of 
 whom two are women, came in from the Arabs to- 
 day. Desultory firing o?i and from the Arabs at 
 Omdurman, and the White Nile lines. 
 
 Of the men who came in, one is a slave of Slatin 
 Bey. The Mahdi does not mean to fight direct; 
 the Khalifas ^^ and the Arabs want to fight direct. 
 Omdurman killed some of their men ; the Arabs 
 have munitions ; Slatin is in chains. These men 
 brought in their rifles. The Arabs lost at Bourre 
 heavily ; some bodies came floating down the river 
 to-day. A soldier»'came in from the Arabs. A few 
 Arabs came and fired on the fort at Omdurman, and 
 wounded a slave in it. 
 
 The people up here would reason thus, if I at- 
 tempted to leave : " You came up here, and had you 
 not come, we should have some of us got away to 
 Cairo, but we trusted in you to extricate us ; we 
 suffered and are suffering great privations, in order 
 to hold the town. Had you not come we should have 
 given in at once and obtained pardon ; now we can, 
 after our obstinate defence, expect no mercy from 
 the Mahdi, who wiU avenge on us all the blood 
 which has been spilt around Kartoum. You have 
 taken our money and promised to repay us ; all this 
 goes for nought if you quit us ; it is your bounden 
 duty to stay by us, and to share our fate ; if the 
 British Government deserts us that is no reason for 
 you to do so, after our having stood by you." ^^ I 
 
 25 /. e. the Viziers. — Ed. 
 
 26 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.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 283 
 
 declare positively^ and once for all, that I will not 
 leave the Soudan until every one who wants to go 
 down is given the chance to do so, unless a govern- 
 ment is established which relieves me of the charge ; 
 therefore if any emissary or letter comes up here 
 ordering me to come down, I will NOT OBEY it, 
 
 BUT WILL STAY HERE, AND FALL WITH THE TOWN, 
 
 AND RUN ALL RISKS. These remarks are produced 
 by the extraordinary confidence of the Arabs, com- 
 bined with the Abyssinian Treaty and other signifi- 
 cant remarks in the newspaper Kitchener sent me — 
 Gordon Relief Expedition — who, I expect, knows 
 more than I do, and that " that more is that the 
 JSJxjjedition has come up for me personally.^^ I 
 hope, if things do come to the worst, and that the 
 Expedition goes back, my steamers (cifter abstrac- 
 tion of th.Q fellaheen troops^ will be sent back to 
 this place, with <£150,000 which Baring promised 
 me ! (or as much as I wanted), and as much pro- 
 visions as can be possibly spared ; also a gun to re- 
 place the one lost (or said to be lost) in the Abbas 
 trying to communicate with Europe and Cairo. 
 Unless Zubair is absolutely required at Cairo, I 
 would also like him to come up, or (to save appear- 
 ances) allowed to escape. I hope that Stewart's 
 supposed death, if by treachery, will be avenged in 
 a signal way on the way down.^*^ 
 
 27 Briefly summarised, what General Gordon says is: "If the ex- 
 peditionary 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.
 
 284 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 A boy was captured, during the cow business at 
 Omdurman, but lie said his father was with the 
 Arabs, so 1 let him go back. 
 
 I have now got all the "telegrams," European, 
 " sent from " and " received m Soudan " for 
 " 1883-84," — splendid collection, full of interest. 
 What would the Standard give for them ? How- 
 ever, I think I can afford to be generous, and so I 
 shall send them down with this Vol. VI.^^ . 
 
 The fort at Omdurman captured twenty-one cows 
 this evening; this is splendid — forty-one cows in 
 two days. 
 
 The only original document I kept here, and which 
 I was as near as possible giving to Stewart, is the 
 firman I have already mentioned, which I send with 
 this,^ proclaiming the abandonment of the Soudan 
 by Towfik.^*^ If the Mahdi had got this he would 
 have crowed, though he may know of it, for I 
 showed it, not knoAving well its contents, to Hussein 
 Pasha Khalifa (vide Stewart's Journal, which went 
 down, and in which I criticise my ha^^Jlg done so). 
 I felt inclined to give it to Stewart, who, I felt con- 
 fident, would get down, because I thought if found 
 with me the Mahdi might say, " Wh}^, you had the 
 order to give up the country from Towfik, and you 
 did not " ; but, then, I thought as I shall be killed 
 ere he takes the town it does not make much differ- 
 ence if here or with Stewart, so I kept it. I call 
 attention to the fact that every document (except 
 
 28 Not received from the Government. 
 
 29 Appendix Y. 
 
 3" The firman of Towfik respecting the troops withdrawing, which Gor- 
 don received 24th January, 1884, and which he did not promulgate. — Ed.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 285 
 
 above-mentioned telegrams, of which Stewart had 
 taken copies) went down with him (Stewart), and 
 that will show how sure I felt that he and Power 
 would get down, for otherwise, if I had doubted, I 
 would never have let my original instructions go ; 
 now I have not a single paper. I cannot quote text- 
 ually : all went with Stewart ; but I have my mem- 
 ory, and I even give you the Telegrams. I have 
 not written any despatch concerning Stewart or 
 Power. I dare not, with my views, say their death 
 is an evil ; ^^ if true. I am sorry for their friends 
 and relations. Stewart was a brave, just, upright 
 gentleman. Can one say more ? Power was a chiv- 
 alrous, brave, honest gentleman. Can one say more ? 
 Herbin, I liked very much ; he was a most agreeable 
 and gentlemanly Frenchman, and very sharp. The 
 diplomatic . . . called him names in a telegram ; 
 but I found him fairly just,^^ though naturally with 
 a French bias. For my part I cannot see what 
 harm the French can do us if they had a voice in 
 Egypt ; and I can see much good arising from it. I 
 declare if they had had a voice in Egypt the present 
 state of affairs would never have existed. If you 
 can find no chivalry in your own house, you had 
 better borrow it from your neighbour. We fired 
 
 31 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. 
 
 32 General Gordon means, in my opinion, "Fairly just in his political 
 views." Herbin was the Editor of the Bosphore Egyptien. — Ed.
 
 286 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 yesterday 41,000 rounds of Remington ammunition, 
 and we fired less than the Arabs. 
 
 Novemher 10. — This morning forty Arabs came 
 down near Omdurman Fort, and fired on it — angry 
 about the capture of cows last evening. 
 
 One soldier and one slave came in from the Arabs 
 at Omdurman. Seven Arabs on camels went across 
 from the Blue Nile towards Half eyeh. I fear a recon- 
 noitring party, previous to their putting a post there. 
 To-day is the day I expected we should have had 
 some one of the Expedition h6re. Hicks' defeat 
 was known at Cairo on the 21st or 22nd November, 
 since which reinforcements to extent of nine persons 
 reached this place (up to date) from Cairo — " for 
 which the Egyptian Government " (according to the 
 fiction) " is solely and entirely to blame "!!!!! 
 
 The man who was wounded by the mine is dead. 
 If man knew what the future would bring forth 
 he would be pretty miserable. Look at the tele- 
 gram on other side, written in December, 1883.^ 
 I would not read those telegrams, or Stewart's Jour- 
 nal, for a good deal, when I think how we kept 
 feeding on delusions for so many months. A soldier 
 and slave have come in from the Arabs at Omdur- 
 man ; five more soldiers and three slaves came in 
 later on in the day ; they say Slatin is released from 
 
 33 This refers to a telegram sent by Colonel Coetlogon to Colonel 
 Fraser Floyer, at Wady Haifa, at the above date, which runs : " No 
 fresh news. Anxiously awaiting reinforcements." Underneath this 
 General Gordon has written : "If Coetlogon had only been then in- 
 formed that thei-e was no intention to send reinforcements (further than 
 nine persons) for (nearly) a year! " — Ed.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 287 
 
 his chains ; that there is a rumour of the advance of 
 the Expedition direct on Kartoum from Debbeh; 
 that Luigi and Yusef , two priests, are still in Obeyed, 
 having refused to become Muslim ; that the Arabs 
 lost heavily at Bourre the day before yesterday. 
 Why Kitchener 2^ did not tell me the route the Ex- 
 pedition would take is inexplicable, for it could have 
 done no possible harm, seeing the Mahdi has his 
 spies everywhere, and it was easy to have couched 
 this information in terms I could have understood, 
 and the Mahdi could not have understood. The 
 fellaheen soldier did go to the Mahdi.^^ 
 
 JVovemher 11. — This morning, 6 A. M., 200 Arabs 
 came to north of Omdurman Fort, and fired volleys 
 towards the village of Tuti and the fort; the fort 
 answered, and the footmen of the Arabs retreated ; 
 then the Arab horsemen made the footmen go back 
 again, and so on, four or five times ; at last they re- 
 tired. We had three soldiers and one woman 
 wounded ; only one wound was at all serious. Arabs 
 must have fired five thousand rounds ; evidently they 
 do not wish much to fight. Nineteen Arabs came 
 along the right bank of the White Nile from Hal- 
 f eyeh to Goba, and captured a donkey ; this even the 
 Shaggyeh could not stand, and so I suppose one 
 hundred sallied out and some fifteen horsemen ; then 
 came a running fight across the plain, but it was 
 evident the horsemen would not head the Arabs; 
 however, from the roof, it was evident four or five 
 
 s* Major Kitchener did not know it himself. 
 
 35 A soldier previously mentioned, who was thought to have de- 
 serted. — Ed.
 
 288 
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 Arabs were killed, and the pui-suit is still going on. 
 You may imagine the Arabs have a good deal of 
 confidence, for their nineteen men were distant at 
 least ten miles of desert from their camp and were 
 
 Om 
 
 ©Arab 
 Camp 
 
 at a. They were going along h b when they were 
 discovered with the captured donkey. Five at least of 
 these Arabs got away. The Arabs are sure to come 
 down to avenge this. Noon. — Arabs coming down 
 from their camp. The Ismallia getting steam up. 
 North Fort reports (?) " Captures, 3 Remingtons ! 3 
 spears ! 3 swords ! and the killing of 20 ? 5 got 
 away ? " The Arabs are halted on the sand hiUs. 
 Five soldiers and one woman came in from the 
 Arabs at Omdurman ; report, " Arab rocket-tube 
 broken ; carriage of gun broken ; the Arabs desert- 
 ing ; rumoured advance of the Expedition ; quarrels 
 going on; Slatin in chains^ The Shaggyeh say
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 289 
 
 they killed twenty Arabs, but tliey only say they 
 captured nine arms, so eleven must have been un- 
 armed ! ! ! 
 
 It appears 93,000 okes + 166,000 okes = 259,000 
 okes of biscuit have been stolen in the last year, only 
 found out now; however, we have now quarter of a 
 million okes, which will see us only for a month or 
 so. It appears that more than thirty of the princi- 
 pal merchants are engaged in the above robbery of 
 biscuit. The process is not finished. One of the 
 greatest problems will be what to do with those 
 Shaggy eh, those Cairo Bashi Bazouks, and fellaheen 
 soldiers, whose courage is about equal, — perhaps 
 the palm is due to the Shaggyeh. The twenty cows 
 I mentioned as captured by the men of Omdurman 
 Fort (making up forty-one captured cows, page 284) 
 were driven in by five soldiers esccqnng from the 
 Arabs and were not captured. They do not stick 
 at a lie (and, in this, resemble some people in high 
 places I know). 259,000 okes of biscuit was a good 
 haul, nearly 2^ million pounds : worth ,£26,000 now, 
 or £9000 in ordinary times.^^ 
 
 November 12. — Last night three slaves came into 
 Omdurman. At 11 p. m. they reported Arabs meant 
 to attack to-day at dawn. It was reported to me, 
 but the telegraph clerk did not choose to tell me till 
 7 A. M. to-day. We had been called up at 5.30 a. m. 
 by a violent fusillade at Omdurman. The Arabs 
 came out in considerable force, and, as I had not 
 
 36 Tliis recovery of biscuit enabled General Gordon to hold Kartoum 
 until the gates were treacherously opened to the enemy. — Ed. 
 19
 
 290 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 been warned, the steamers had not steam up. From 
 5.30 A. M. to 8.30 Ai-abs came on and went back" 
 continually. All the cavalry were out ; the expendi- 
 ture of ammunition was immense. The Arabs had 
 a gun or guns on the bank. Details further on, as 
 the firing is still going on. 
 
 10.20 A. M. — For half an hour firing lulled, but 
 then recommenced, and is still going on. The Is- 
 mailia was struck with a shell, but I hear is not 
 seriously damaged. The ffiisseinyeh is aground (I 
 feel much the want of my other steamers at Metem- 
 ma). 11.15 A. M. — Firing has lulled ; it was very 
 heavy for the last three quarters of an hour from 
 the Ismailia and Arabs ; it is now desultorj^ and 
 is dying away. Husseinyeh is still aground. The 
 Ismailia is at anchor. What a six hours of anxiety 
 for me, when I saw the shells strike the water near 
 the steamers from the Arabs ; imagine my feelings ! 
 We have X831 in specie and .£42,800 in paper ; and 
 there is X14,600 in ixiper out in the town ! I call 
 this state of finance not bad, after more than eight 
 months' blockade. The troops are owed half a 
 month's pay, and even that can be scarcely called 
 owed them, for I have given them stores, and beyond 
 the regulations. Noon. The firing has ceased, I 
 am glad to say. I have lived years in these last 
 hours ! Had I lost the Ismailia^ I should have lost 
 the Husseinyeh (aground), and then Omdurman, 
 and the North Fort ! And then the town ! 1 p. M. 
 — The Arabs are firing^ on the steamers with their 
 two guns. The Husseinyeh still aground ; that is 
 the reason of it. Firing, 1.30 p. m., now has ceased.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 291 
 
 The IsmaUia, struck by three shells, had one man 
 killed, fifteen wounded on board of her ; she did 
 really very well. I boxed the telegraj)h clerk's ears 
 for not giving me the telegram last night (after re- 
 peated orders that no consideration was to prevent 
 his coming to me) ; and then, as my conscience 
 pricked me, I gave him $5. He said he did not 
 mind if I killed him — I was his father (a choco- 
 late-coloured youth of twenty). I know all this is 
 brutal — abrutissant, as Hansall calls it — but what 
 is one to do ? If you cut their pay, you hurt their 
 families. I am an advocate for summary and quick 
 punishment, which hurts only the defaulter. Had 
 this clerk warned me, of course, at daybreak, the 
 steamers would have had their steam up, and been 
 ready. We have a Krupp at Mogrim Fort. Fer- 
 ratch Pasha reports he has dismounted one of the 
 Arab guns. The Arabs had a show of four hun- 
 dred horsemen, who kept far off. Telegraph was, 
 and is, interrupted between this and the Omdurman 
 Fort (whether by bullet or otherwise is not known 
 as yet). Considering that the Arab mountain gun 
 can (and has) made holes tioo feet square in the 
 steamer, my anxiety is not to be wondered at. (I 
 feel as if I had walked thirty miles.) We fired 
 eighty-three rounds of Krupp at the Arabs from 
 Mogrim, forty-three rockets. The Arabs fired three 
 hundred and seventy rounds from their guns at the 
 steamers. As for ammunition (Remington), we 
 fired from our steamers^ forts, &c., fifty thousand 
 rounds ; and I certainly think the Arabs fired as 
 much. Omdurman certainly was " over-eager to
 
 292 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 FIRE ON THE ENEMY " ^' in the early dawn, and con- 
 sequently wasted ammunition. This ends the great- 
 est battle {as yet) of our second blockade. Spies 
 (of last night) say it was undertaken against the 
 Mahdi's wish, by his Khalifa or Vizier, who per- 
 suaded him to allow it. During all through, the 
 Arabs of the South and East never moved a peg. 
 Like the Chinese, one may calculate they will never 
 assist one another. 
 
 This is our first encoimter with the Mahdi's per- 
 sonal troojjs. One tumbles at 3 a. m. into a troubled 
 sleep ; a drum beats — tup ! tup ! tup ! It comes 
 into a dream, but after a few moments one becomes 
 more awake, and it is revealed to the brain that one 
 is in KaTtoum. The next query is, where is this 
 tup, tupping going on? A hope arises it will die 
 away. No, it goes on, and increases in intensity. 
 The thought strikes one, " Have they enough ammu- 
 nition ? " (the excuse of bad soldiers). One exerts 
 oneself. At last, it is no use, up one must get, and 
 go on to the roof of the Palace ; then telegrams, 
 orders, swearing, and cursing goes on till about 9 
 A. M. Men may say what they like about glorious 
 war, but to me it is a horrid nuisance (if it is per- 
 mitted to say anything is a nuisance which comes 
 on us). I saw that poor little beast the Husseinyeh 
 (a Thames launch) fall back, stern foremost, under 
 a terrific fire of breech-loaders. I saw a shell strike 
 the water at her bows ; I saw her stop and puff off 
 steam, and I gave the glass to my boy, sickened unto 
 death., and I will say my thoughts turned on . . . 
 87 Vidt General Graham's despatch in re Black Watch. — Ed.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 293 
 
 more than on any one, and they are not beneficent 
 towards him. My boy (he is thirty) said, " Hus- 
 seinyeh is sick." I knew it, but said quietly, " Go 
 down and telegraph to Mogrim,^^ ' Is Husseinyeh 
 sick ? ' " Answer, " No." I asked again ; answer, 
 " No." Then telegraph said, " She was aground." 
 
 2.45 P. M. The Ismailia tried to take the Hus- 
 seinyeh off, and got struck twice, in addition to the 
 three times before mentioned, with shells, so she de- 
 sisted from the attempt. The Arabs are firing on 
 the Husseinyeh. I have ordered the Krupp of 
 Mogrim to play on the Arab guns, and shall wait 
 till night to take off the Husseinyeh. She is nearer 
 to the left bank than to the right bank ; it is not 
 clear if she is aground or half sunk (equally a 
 trouble). 3.30 p. m. The Arabs are bringing their 
 guns nearer to the aground or half-sunken Hussein- 
 yeh. The Ismailia reports that the two last shells 
 have done her no material damage. 4.30 p. m. The 
 Arabs have now three guns bearing on the Hussein- 
 yeh. 6 P. M. The firing has ceased, I hope to get 
 the Husseinyeh off at night. 7 P. M. The Arabs 
 keep up a dropping fire on the Husseinyeh., who, I 
 hear, has two shell holes in her, and has six men, 
 including the captain, wounded. I must say the 
 Arabs to-day showed the greatest of pluck ; over 
 and over again they returned to the attack, though 
 overwhelmed with the musketry fire of the castel- 
 lated Ismailia. I think they must have lost heavily, 
 for at times they were in dense groups. I believe 
 that by the Arabs we may understand our own reg- 
 88 Fort Mogrim. — Ed.
 
 294 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 iilars captured in Kordofan and Darfvr, ^c. "We 
 are going to get the Husseinyeh off to-night if we 
 can. No Royal Navy vessels would have behaved 
 better than the Ismctilia to-day ; she passed and re- 
 passed the Arab guns upwards of twenty times, 
 when any one well -placed shell would have sunk 
 her. Whether the crew knew it or not does not 
 matter. / did, and felt comfortable accordingly. 
 The Arab guns were not 1200 yards distant from 
 her, and even less at times. She was struck five 
 times with shell. Remember that the Isniailia is 
 only a superior penny boat, and that the Egyptiar 
 mountain gun is as superior to our wi'etched seven- 
 pounders as a three-pounder is to a twelve-pounder 
 howitzer, both for range and for effect. You want 
 a gun to make a hole, not a gimlet-hole, which these 
 seven -pounders do, and what wearisome work to 
 carry them ! 
 
 All this worry is (humanly speaking) due to that 
 chocolate-coloured clerk of the telegraph not warn- 
 ing me. This evening there was an ominous sign 
 that the Arabs on the Blue Nile knew of our trou- 
 bles with the Husseinyeh. They came up against 
 Bourr^, but two gunshots drove them off. At 4 
 p. M. the Arabs on the right bank of the White Nile 
 fired twelve shells against the lines, and opened a 
 fire of musketry for a short time, but did no harm. 
 I have given half a month's pay to the Isniailia and 
 to the Husseinyeh crews, and 12 for the men who 
 have gone to get the latter off ; she is not half sunk., 
 but is aground. There is (8 p. m.) a fire on the 
 left bank of the White Nile, opposite to Halfeyeh.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 295 
 
 The Arabs got into the ditch of the entrenched 
 camp at Omdurman, which is theirs. We only oc- 
 cupy the fort X. Hicks' army were in this en- 
 trenched camp. Arabs came to Y. 
 
 8.15 P. M. The Arabs have still their guns on the 
 river bank, and are firing at the Husseinyeh, whom 
 I am trying, by my men, to get off. Evidently they 
 are not cowed, for generally they take their guns 
 
 back at night to their camp. Report from the IIus- 
 seinyeh steamer : 10.20 p. m. Wounded, 6 ; killed, 
 3 ; efforts as yet are ineffectual as to taking off the 
 steamer Htisseinyeh. 
 
 November 13. — The Ismailia, 2 A. m., got struck
 
 296 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 by two shells (?) ^^ going to take off the ffussein- 
 yeh ; so we took her gun out, and her crew, and have 
 left her. At 5.30 a. m. the Arabs commenced firing 
 on the lines at Bourre, and 7 A. M. I see they are 
 coming across to Goba, bringing a gun with them. 
 The Arabs at Omdurman are quiet. The Arabs 
 have fired five times with their gun at the Omdur- 
 man Fort. The Arabs have got their gun at the 
 village outside Sheikh Ali, near the end of the 
 lines on the White Nile, and have fired shells at 
 the lines. Our telegraph was cut yesterday even- 
 ing with Omdurman Fort, and cannot be repaired 
 (8 A. M.), for the Arabs are shelling that fort. The 
 Arabs, on the North Side, have their gun on the low 
 sand hills some 4000 yards off, and are shelling us ; 
 musketry firing going on at Bourre. The Arabs 
 had their guns last night defending the approach to 
 the Husseinyeh. We are repairing the Ismailia ; 
 the barricade of the steersman of the Husseinyeh 
 got struck by a shell. We raised a parapet on the 
 river bank to defend any approach of the Arabs to 
 the Husseinyeh. Omdurman had yesterday a quar- 
 ter of a million cartridges — Remington. 
 
 Omdurman Fort has one and a half month's sup- 
 ply of food and water ; it was a fault to place it so 
 far from the river ; '^'^ yesterday it had not its flag 
 up ; to-day it has. The Arabs have sent 250 men 
 to Goba ; but the village Hogali, which was the one 
 close to the Palace, having been levelled, they are 
 too far off to do us any harm. There is a report in 
 
 39 1 expect that this story of the Ismailia being again struck twice 
 is a fib ! 
 
 40 I.e. 1200 yards. — Ed.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 297 
 
 town, tlie Arabs say ,they will enter it to-morrow, 
 and say their prayers in the mosque on Friday. 
 The Arabs at Goba are wasting a lot of ammunition 
 (Remington) ; their bullets do not reach us.^^ They 
 will be bothered for water, for we filled up all the 
 wells in Goba. 9.15 a. m. The Arabs have re- 
 turned from Goba. 10 A. M. They have made a 
 long dHour^^'^ and have gone to the prolongation of 
 our lines at Bourre, on the right bank of the Blue 
 Nile, where they are firing heavily. I expect we 
 fired 50,000 rounds yesterday, and the Arabs rather 
 more, while to-day the Arabs have fired a great 
 deal. We calculate that with Hicks' army was lost 
 1,000,000 cartridges, and now it is a year ago, dur- 
 ing which time, with the firing there and elsewhere 
 
 XOmdurman 
 
 during a year, two thirds of that million must have 
 been expended, and they have no means to renew 
 the cartridges ; they cannot have much more than 
 300,000 rounds. 
 
 *i Goba is rather more than a mile from the Palace of Kartoum.— Ed. 
 *2 /. e. to escape the guns of the North Fort. — Ed.
 
 298 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 The Arabs have now gone from opposite Bourre 
 (11 A. M.), having* fired a nice lot of ammunition, 
 and hurt no one in the fort. Omdurman Fort is 
 still cut off from us ; Arabs at A B c. The Arabs 
 certainly got the best of it yesterday, though I ex- 
 pect they paid for it. It appears the Husseinyeh got 
 aground through the captain, who was afterwards 
 wounded, not doing what the Reis told him. For- 
 tmiately I had foreseen the likelihood of the fort at 
 Omdurman being cut off, and had provisioned it. 
 If the Expedition comes at all, it ought to be here 
 before long. We had fifteen men wounded yester- 
 day, three rather dangerously, and seven were killed. 
 I never feel anxious about any of the fights, except 
 when the steamers are engaged, and then I own I 
 am on tenter-hooks as long as they are out. 1 p. m. 
 The Arabs have got four guns down on the river, 
 and are firing across the river at the Mogrim Fort, 
 which is answering by Krupp and rockets. We are 
 not fortunate with the little steamers I had brought 
 out in sections from England ; we have lost, at any 
 rate temporaTily^ one, the Husseinyeh ; another, 
 the Abbas, where is she ? And the Arabs have the 
 third, the Mahomet AH, on the Blue Nile. The 
 Arabs fired four gims on the lines near the White 
 Nile this morning (they fired sixty rounds). Mus- 
 ketry (3 p. M.) going on across river between our 
 men and the Arabs. Certainly we have been left to 
 almost the very last extremity, and I declare I think 
 the year will be complete, from the time Cairo 
 heard of Hicks' defeat to the time of the Relief Ex- 
 pedition arriving here ! ! ! And . I am sure, if an
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 299 
 
 enquiry was made, it would be made out no one 
 was to blame. 
 
 The Arabs have eighteen boats plying as ferry 
 from one side of the White Nile to the other. They 
 may try with these boats to get hold of the Hussein- 
 yeh, or else to board her ; there are only some bags 
 of biscuits on board ; but as the steamer is blinded, 
 if Arabs once get on board, it would be very difficult 
 to dislodge them, unless we sink the steamer, for 
 they will find the biscuit and so have plenty to eat. 
 Fifteen shells fell into the town this morning, but 
 did no harm. 
 
 Nearly all the Arab force which came on the 
 north side to-day were slaves, with them perhaps 
 forty horsemen Arabs. Eventually the Arabs will 
 find out the inconvenience of these Mamelukes.^^ 
 Four bullets came from the Arabs to the Palace to- 
 day — 2800 yards — and came with a good force. 
 A native of Kartoum came and complained he had 
 had nothing to eat for himself and family for four 
 days ; they found eight ardebs of dhoora in his 
 house ; in another house forty ardebs were found. 
 
 Novemher 14. — 8 a. m. The Arabs on both sides 
 of the Blue Nile began firing on Bourre at 5.30 A. m., 
 and it is going on now. They kept up for more 
 than quarter of an hour a continuous roll of fire, and 
 have wasted a precious lot of ammunition. They 
 brought down one of their guns and fired a few 
 rounds. Up to this time no one is wounded at 
 
 Bourre. 
 
 43 1. e. mounted Arabs. — Ed.
 
 300 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 Two men crossed from Omdurman, and report 
 Ferratch Ullah as all riglit, and as having no men 
 wounded in the fort. The Arabs fired their gims 
 on the fort this morning. 
 
 An Arab tried to swim off to the H^usseinyeh^ 
 whom (they say f) our men shot. 
 
 I wonder where King John is, with his 200,000 
 soldiers ? 
 
 I argue thus : 1. It would be impossible for the 
 Expeditionary Force, once having come to Dongola, 
 not to move up to Metemma, or to the vicinity of 
 Berber. 2. That once at Metemma, or at Berber, 
 they will find the steamers, and consequently must 
 communicate with Kartomn, 3. Once they com- 
 municate wath Kartoum they must assume the re- 
 sponsibility of the government of that place (of 
 course, when once that responsibility is assumed, the 
 decision as to what they will do rests with them). 
 
 4. It is imjDossible for them to loiter long on the 
 road between Dongola (or Debbeh) and Metemma. 
 
 5. It will be impossible for them, ouiing to the 
 events of the last few days^ to avoid collision with 
 the Arabs around Kartoum. A week ago it might 
 have been possible, but now the Arabs are too close 
 to the town to avoid it. Omdurman Fort being cut 
 off wiU oblige action being taken to re-open com- 
 munications. The Arabs may run away., but, some- 
 how, since a few days, I doubt it. 
 
 A soldier came in to the North Fort from the 
 Arabs this morning. 
 
 Another fib — they told me that they had got 
 ^4 /. e. it would have been possible had the force started earlier. — Ed.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 301 
 
 everything out of the Htisseinyeh but the biscuit : it 
 appears that the ammunition is still in her. 
 
 No church parade on the right bank of Nile 
 (Kalakla), but one is going on at GirafEe on the 
 Blue Nile. It appears last night that a boat went 
 off to the Husseinyeh, that the men in this boat got 
 frightened at the challenge of our own men and 
 jumped into the water, and left their boat. I went 
 down to Mogrim, and found the Ismailia has been 
 struck by seven shells, and is pockmarked with bul- 
 
 lets all over. The Arabs (some 400 rifles) line a 
 long trench opposite the Husseinyeh : we have 
 erected a parapet on our side opposite her. The 
 Arabs have four guns, from which they kept up a 
 desultory fire, doing no harm. The Arabs' rifle-fire 
 is continuous and futile ; ours is less heavy, but I ex- 
 pect equally futile, for the Arabs keep under cover. 
 The Arabs fired regular volleys, upwards of five, 
 while I was there : they appear to delight in the 
 noise. The Husseinyeh is about 1200 yards from 
 the point x, 800 yards from Y, and 1000 yards to z, 
 where my trench is. 
 
 The Husseinyeh lies just off the end of the en- 
 trenchment of Omdurman entrenched camp.
 
 302 
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 She has her stern to the Arabs. 
 
 A soldier came in to the North Fort from the 
 
 Arabs on the Blue Nile, and reports that a man with 
 letters came the night before last to the fort of Om- 
 durman and called out to the sentries, but before 
 they could let him into the fort the Arabs captured 
 him and the letters. I hope to be able to-night to 
 communicate by bugle sounds with Omdurman Fort. 
 
 Revised list of the robbery ; 172,000 okes of bis- 
 cuit they change every day. We have to-day in the 
 magazine 240,000 okes of biscuit, 1,326 ardebs of 
 dhoora. Have ordered 1000 okes to be given away, 
 and 4000 okes to be sold. 
 
 The Omdurman Fort is ill placed, as it cannot see 
 the ground down to the river, and is distant 1200 
 yards from the river. The Arabs on left bank of the 
 White Nile opposite the Husseinyeh number 500 (I 
 expect all are my soldiers), and they are so far away
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 303 
 
 from any reserve that it would be easy to crush them 
 before they were aided, {/ we dared to try, which 
 we do not. I was at Mogrim Fort for half an hour, 
 during which time the Arabs fired, as I calculated, 
 fifteen shells and 8000 rounds, and no one was 
 touched ; indeed, where their bullets went I could 
 not see nor hear. No stores could stand that, and 
 up to sundown they were still at it with rifles and 
 guns. Bourre, in spite of all the heavy firing, has 
 no casualties ; 80,000 rounds would scarcely cover 
 our united expenditure to-day. 
 
 Reports from the Arabs at different times said the 
 Mahdi had brought 200 (some say 120) camel loads 
 of ammunition (Remingtons) from Obeyed — say 
 200, and say that each camel carried 2 boxes, each 
 box 1000, so that he had, before he began, 800,000 
 rounds ; he must have expended in the last week 
 250,000 to 300,000 rounds, and has left 550,000 
 rounds or 500,000 rounds. I do not expect he has 
 200,000 rounds left, which is his weekly expenditure 
 if he goes on at the rate he is going now. We turn 
 out on an average 40,000 rounds a week, and are 
 well ahead of our requirements. Looking at the 
 Arab gunners with my telescope, they never seem to 
 bother themselves about aim, but just to load and 
 fire. It is, of course, different when the steamers 
 are in action. The officer in command of Mogrim 
 Fort was wounded in the arm at sundown. The 
 captain of the Husseinyeh died to-day. We suppose 
 that on board the Husseinyeh, are the men I men- 
 tioned as having jumped out of the boat last night 
 on the challenge of the sentry, also a soldier of Om-
 
 304 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL 
 
 durman who swam off to her with letters from Fer- 
 ratch Bey, commandant of the fort, so we are send- 
 ing off a boat to the Husseinyeh to take them off. 
 A workman in the arsenal was wounded to-day by 
 a ball from Bourre, distant 2300 yards. The Arab 
 fire on Bourre renders the vicinity of the Palace far 
 more dangerous than Bourr^, the balls fall so plenti- 
 fully around the Mudirat, which is close by, that the 
 Greek Consul was obliged to lay to for some time till 
 the firing ceased : it is at least 2500 to 3000 yards 
 from the Palace to the place the Arabs fire from. 
 
 We have put the gun of the steamer Ismailia on 
 the bank of the Nile, to cover the approach to the 
 Hussemyeh ; the Greek Consul says " the balls fall 
 like water " on the road leading to the Palace. I 
 believe a good deal, if you have the ammunition, in 
 the dropping fire of rifles, even at three thousand 
 yards ; the balls that fell on the Palace are fairly 
 flattened, showing they have plenty of life to kill. 
 The buglers have communicated with Fort Omdur- 
 man, who are all well. 8 p. m. to-morrow we will 
 have signals with flags. Out of evil comes good — 
 if the Husseinyeh was not aground, the Arabs, in- 
 stead of concentrating their force and attention on 
 her, woidd have devoted it to the fort, which, cut off, 
 would suffer ; as it is now, the fort is unmolested. 
 Bullets rained on the hospital yesterday and to-day, 
 but did no harm ! I calculate that the Ismailia has 
 two thousand bullet marks on her. 
 
 November 15. — Last night we sent off a boat to 
 the Husseinyeh, and took off the soldier of Ferratch
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 305 
 
 Ullah Bey, who had come from Omdiirman, also the 
 ten men who jumped into the water from their boat 
 the night before. Ferratch Ullah writes he is all 
 well ; he wants ammunition ! ! ! he had 230,000 
 rounds three days ago : he says he has now 150,000 
 rounds ; also he has regulars, 470, each 100 rounds, 
 47,000; he has irregulars, 170, each 200 rounds, 
 34,000 ; altogether, in magazine of fort, 150,000 
 rounds, and with the men 81,000 ; total ammunition 
 in fort, 231,000 rounds: yet he calls for ammuni- 
 tion ! ! ! Hicks took 1,000,000. The buglers com- 
 municated well with the fort at Omdurman ; buglers 
 then spoke the soldiers on Mahdi's side, but they did 
 not answer ; we invited them to come over to us. 
 
 The five feluccas, which took the men off the 
 Husseinyeh^ were not seen by the Arabs. I sent an 
 engineer to take off the steam-valves of the Hus- 
 seinyeh ; the five feluccas took off, this time, every- 
 thing from the Husseinyeh, biscuit, ammunition, &c., 
 &c. It appears that the Arabs, who were watching 
 the Husseinyeh, had gone off to Merowe, opposite 
 Halfeyeh ; but this is doubtful. 
 
 At dawn the Arabs opened a heavy fire with the 
 usual futile efforts on Bourr^, also they fired with 
 gun and musketry on Omdurman Fort. 
 
 At Omdurman Fort they have had, in the last 
 few days, four killed and sixteen wounded. 
 
 A shell from the Arabs struck the Husseinyeh 
 yesterday, but did no harm, for she is well aground. 
 No wounded at Bourr^ to-day by the Arab fire. 
 
 The Bimbashi, who was wounded in the arm yes- 
 terday evening, was lying on his angarep ^^ when he 
 
 45 /, e. a bedstead. — Ed.
 
 306 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 was wounded : he thought it a secure place ; he died 
 to-day. 
 
 The Arabs from Omdurman side of the river 
 have kept up a desultory fire of guns and musketry 
 all day ; but at sundown the fire was much heaArier, 
 and if the Arabs go on like that for many days, 
 they will be out of ammunition, both gun and I'ifle. 
 
 It has turned out a benefit for us the Husseinyeh 
 going aground, for the attention of the Arabs is 
 devoted to her, and they fire scarcely at all on the 
 fort at Omdurman ; even if we had her, she could 
 do little good : the other little steamer will be com- 
 pleted in twelve days. 
 
 I think I have been rather unjust towards the fel- 
 laheen soldier, for though he is not brave enough to 
 take the field, he has done good work on board the 
 steamers, and a good many of their officers and men 
 have been killed and wounded (thanks to the policy 
 that has been followed elsewhere) in a quarrel 
 which does not concern them. These remarks are 
 produced by a visit I made to the hospital to-day, 
 when I saw the mass of the wounded were fellaheen 
 soldiers, whom I put in the steamers, because, when 
 in action, they could not run away, while I kept the 
 blacks for the defence of the lines. As I was leav- 
 ing the hospital to-day, a dead man was carried out 
 by four men in chains (convicts) on a stretcher, ac- 
 companied by two soldiers with fijced bayonets — to 
 be buried as a dog ! This is part of the glory of 
 war ! According to the demands for ammunition, we 
 are firing away 40,000 rounds per diem ; the officers 
 ask for fresh Remingtons, as by the constant firing
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 307 
 
 those they have are out o£ order. I feel quite indif- 
 ferent, for, if not relieved for a month, our food 
 supply fails, and even at the above rate of expendi- 
 ture of ammunition we have fifty days' cartridges. I 
 like to go down with our colours flying. The Arabs 
 are quite equalling us in expenditure, and they have 
 no reserve of ammunition, or means of repairing 
 their arms. I am going to call the new steamer the 
 Ziibair, after Zubair Pasha Rahama ; *^ the town 
 wanted it called after me, but I said, " I have put 
 most of you in prison and otherwise bullied you, and 
 I have no fear of your forgetting me." 
 
 JVovemher 16. — The Arabs quiet, little firing at 
 Mogrim ; I expect the Mahdi has found out that his 
 men have been making away with his ammunition 
 too fast, even as I have found it out. A small fan- 
 tasie or church parade is going on near the Mahdi's 
 camp this morning. 
 
 The Arabs at the Mahdi's camp have moved the 
 camp further inland ; they did this at sundown yes- 
 terday. It is on the tapis that they may retire al- 
 together ; if so it will be glorious. The camp oppo- 
 site the lines on South is much diminished, not 
 more than five or six tents. The Arabs there have 
 gone to Giraffe and El foun on the Blue Nile. 
 With the exception of the Arab guns firing on Mo- 
 grim, and our guns answering, everything is quiet 
 to-day. In a couple of hours the Arabs fired sixteen 
 
 46 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 ab- 
 sence was connected with the welfare of the Soudan. — Ed.
 
 308 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 shells without the least effect. Their gun ammu- 
 nition must be nearly expended. A woman was 
 slightly wounded at Bourr^ this morning. The 
 Arabs work on a regular principle with the cap- 
 tured black troops. They know that they will escape 
 to us if they can, in the first instance, so they keep 
 them on short rations, and promise them full rations 
 if they fight us. They then force them into contact 
 with us for (at first) appearance' sake and to get 
 the full rations; when in contact with us we fire 
 on and kill some of them, then their black blood 
 gets up, and they retaliate en bonne volonte, and 
 are egged on by the Arabs, who say to them, " Now 
 you have fired on the Government troops you are 
 in for it ; the Government will never pardon you," 
 and so thus we get no more deserters. It was the 
 same way at Bourre ; before we fired on the Arabs 
 we got plenty of deserters, but when once we gave 
 them a slating no more came in ; they are compro- 
 mised with the Mahdi's cause, and afraid of us if 
 they come in. The Janissaries were the children of 
 Christian parents captured when young, and they 
 fought with vigour against the Christians when they 
 grew up. Scarcely ever is the true Arab in the 
 front, so they say. 
 
 We have ninety men in hospital at present, of 
 whom fifty-four are wounded. We had one man 
 killed, and one wounded at Mogrini to-day. A 
 woman was wounded in the town yesterday. Report 
 in town says seventy of our captured soldiers have 
 deserted and have entered the fort at Omdurman. 
 
 Having been assured by my officers that it was a
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 309 
 
 most terrible risk even to go along the bank near 
 the ITusseinyeh, even by night, owing to the Arabs' 
 rifle fire, and being extremely sceptical of the past 
 (putting down the information given me as an ex- 
 cuse for doing nothing towards taking off the IIus- 
 seinyeh the first night she got aground ; and also as 
 an effort to enhance the danger and daring of those 
 men who did take off the ammunition, &c., the 
 night before last), I went down to-night at 11.30 
 and found it was all a myth, and that if I wished I 
 could take her off without any risk. However, as 
 she is a target and occupies the attention of the 
 Arabs, who leave the fort at Omdurman alone in 
 consequence of her, 1 shall leave her as she is. Of 
 course, needless to say, I found all the officers in 
 charge absent ; they had gone home to bed I How- 
 ever, I am not put out at it. They are, as a rule, 
 the very feeblest of the conies, and nothing will 
 change their nature. The Husseinyeh lies close to 
 the junction of the White and Blue Niles, and one 
 may say is within our lines. 
 
 I daresay this is a repetition, but if we do get out 
 of this mess it is a miracle, for I do not think a 
 slacker lot of officers ever could be found ; but a bad 
 workman always complains of his tools. A good 
 workman turns out good work however rotten his 
 tools may be. 
 
 Novemher 17. — It is really amusing to find (when 
 one can scarcely call one's life one's own) one's ser- 
 vant, already with one wife (which most men find is 
 enough), coming and asking for leave for three days.
 
 310 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 in order to take another wife. Yet such was the 
 case, a few days ago, with one of my servants. 
 
 The Arabs this morning fired from their guns 
 from Bourr^, from the White Nile, and from Om- 
 durman ; they are also keeping up a musketry fire. 
 At the Mahdi's camp they had another "■ church 
 parade " to-day. I suppose they are working up 
 their fanaticism. The Arabs have a Nordenfeldt 
 opposite the little steamer Husseinyeh. The towns- 
 people are pleased at the new steamer being called 
 the Zubair ; the Anti-Slave Society will be furious.*'^ 
 If Zubair had come up, I should have had news long 
 before now.'^^ It does seem ridiculous that when our 
 apparent policy is to hand over the Soudan to the 
 Mahdi, who with his people are far more slave- 
 hunters than Zubair ever would be, we should not 
 have utilized this man in this expedition. There are 
 about two hundred people on the Isle of Tuti, yet 
 last night an Arab came over, killed a man, and 
 carried off three donkeys ; they do not deserve the 
 name of men. How Zubair would touch up these 
 fellows ; he would go to Tuti and give all the men 
 between eighteen and fifty at least thirty blows of 
 Kourbatch. I am obliged to content myself with 
 lamentations. 
 
 (" Count the months — March, April, May, June, 
 July, August, September, October, and half No- 
 
 4" "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 lOth, 1884. — Ed. 
 
 48 /. e. Zubair would have been able to obtain it for me. — Ed.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 311 
 
 vember ! Why, I declare, it is a breach of con- 
 tract." 49) 
 
 If it be true about the repulse of the Abyssinians 
 at Keren, I expect there were roars of laughter in 
 Downing Street at the greenness of His Majesty 
 the Emperor John (as Mitzakis calls him). It is 
 very odd, but we have had no news of Kassala for 
 months, not since September. . . . to . . . : " You 
 said it was too dreadful ; what will you say when I 
 tell you he has made sketches of you and ME ? and, 
 how horrible to relate, put them in his demi-official 
 journal ; and we can do absolutely nothing, for if he 
 is attacked as being a British officer, he says he 
 made the sketches as Governor-General, and vice 
 versd^ 
 
 Independent of my regret for Stewart, the loss of 
 his Journal affects me, for there were lots of things 
 in it of interest. All the powers (including the 
 Pope, and excluding England and France) were ap- 
 pealed to in a touching memo., to raise an auxiliary 
 force under Baker, &c., &c., and to stop the wave of 
 dervish fanaticism. I also wrote to the Sultan. I 
 do not know if these appeals ever got through, but 
 Stewart had them all copied in his Journal. Events 
 and my discourses had almost made him, latterly, as 
 vicious as I am. Baring's ears ought to have burned ; 
 for the last eight months, he was nicely dissected by 
 
 *9 "You will bear in mind the main end to be pursued is the evacua- 
 tion 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-oper- 
 ation and support in their power." — Sir E. Baring to Major-General 
 Gordon, Inclosure in Egypt No. G. — Ed.
 
 312 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 us all (Power aiding). If Herbin, the French Con- 
 sul, had got down, Baring would have had a time of 
 it, for Herbin says that Barere, the French minister, 
 went to Baring before Herbin left, and Baring did 
 not tell (Barere) any thing about the evacuation of 
 the Soudan. Of course Baring will shelter himself 
 under the " fiction " that he, as British Minister, 
 had nothing to do with it. What a farce, if it did 
 not deal with men's lives. 
 
 When one thinks that Baring works harder than 
 a galley slave for such wretched results, one ought 
 to pity him. 
 
 I have sent 150 of these superior troops (the 
 Shaggyeh) to the Isle of Tuti, in consequence of the 
 outrage of last night (which I do not believe in, /or 
 that one man came over and hilled another man, and 
 carried off three donkeys in a small boat is absurd). 
 However, the Shaggyeh are safer in the Isle of Tuti 
 than in the North Fort. At 7 P. m. the Arabs came 
 down and fired on Bourre from the left bank of the 
 Blue Nile. The officer (a full colonel of my crea- 
 tion), asks me " Is he to fire back? " I said, " Bet- 
 ter 7iot ask me that question, unless you want to 
 catch it." 7.15 p. M. Omdurman Fort is firing 
 away. I certainly lay claim to having commanded, 
 more often than any other man, cowardly troops, 
 but this experience of 1884 beats all past experi- 
 ences ; the worst of the matter is, that you cannot 
 believe one word the officers say. With respect to 
 the major who was absent from the Fort Mogrim 
 last night, he says he was in the telegraph station, 
 which is a direct falsehood. However, I did noth-
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 313 
 
 ing to him more than call him a liar, which he prob- 
 ably considers a compliment. A sort of adjutant- 
 major, whom I had borne with for a long time, told 
 me two cold lies in two days, so I bundled him out. 
 Can it be wondered at that, after nine months and 
 more of this sort of military worry, and ditto of civil 
 worry, I am heartily sick of the whole affair, and 
 provided / am not made a party (and I loill not be) 
 to a shabby retreat, I should be glad to be out of 
 this place. 
 
 The Arabs fu-ed fifteen shells against the Fort of 
 Omdurman ; only one seemed to strike the keep ; 
 one man was wounded at Mogrim with the splinter 
 of a shell. The Arab gun-carriages must be in bad 
 state of repair, for our carpenters are continually at 
 work making new ones, and the Arabs have no 
 means of so doing. The Husseinyeh lies just off 
 the division of the White and the Blue Niles, and 
 not as I showed her position, page 801. All the 
 scratched out portion is abuse of Baring.^*^ Some 
 one said, " If you feel angry, then write your angry 
 letter, and then tear it up." It certainly does re- 
 lieve the mind to write one's bile, and it is good also 
 to scratch it out, for I dare say Baring is doing his 
 duty better than I am ; he is certainly more patri- 
 otic, if patriotism consists in obedience to the exist- 
 ing Government of one's country .^^ 
 
 Doctor reports that the shells and bullets of the 
 
 60 General Gordon has here drawn his pen through some dozen lines 
 of his Journal. — Ed. 
 
 51 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.
 
 314 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 Arabs fell all around the hospital this morning, but 
 did no harm, they came from Bourre. 
 
 Novemher 18. — Everything quiet all round the 
 place ; they fired a few shots with their guns at the 
 lines near the White Nile. 
 
 11.30. A. M. The Arabs on the right bank of the 
 Blue Nile have moved towards the north, and, from 
 the number of porters, I expect they are going to 
 form a camp to the north. 
 
 It may be turned as one likes ; three prominent 
 undeniable facts exist. Her Majesty's Government 
 refused to help Egypt with respect to the Soudan, 
 refused to let Egypt help herself, and refused to 
 allow any other power to help her : this cannot be 
 disputed or explained away. Lord Dufferin's des- 
 patch was " hands off." ^^ The resignation of Cherif 
 was the prohibition of allowing Egypt to help her- 
 self. This tardy succour under pressure, and Bar- 
 ing's despatch, establishes the unwillingness to help. 
 
 The Arabs have settled down in the old Dem they 
 occupied in March last ! ! opposite the Palace, and 
 which they evacuated in August ; their vicinity will 
 give us more spies, which we have lacked hitherto ; 
 this proceeding does not show as if they were much 
 appalled at the advance of the expeditionary force. 
 On the 12th March they pitched their tents on the 
 very spot they are pitching them now — 251 days 
 ago — diu-ing which we have night and day been in 
 
 62 /. 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.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 315 
 
 hostilities with them, and been obliged to keep on 
 the alert " because of ? " " because of ? "— " What ? " 
 The answer has been worn threadbare. 
 
 The Arab guns on Omdurman side firing 1.30 P. M. 
 on Mogrim. They have expended a lot of gun am- 
 munition in last few days. 3.30 P. m. They are still 
 firing ; one can distinguish the Nordenf eldt. I re- 
 member how, when Hicks left for the Soudan, papers 
 wrote of the great effect that the Nordenfeldts were 
 to have upon Arabs, like the French before the 
 Franco-Prussian war with their mitrailleuses. At 
 4 p. M. they fired for a quarter of an hour quickly. 
 This was caused by five cows which approached the 
 fort, the men of which killed three (so to-night they 
 will have meat). The Arabs fired fifteen shells one 
 after the other against the fort, for the outrage on 
 their property. I shall have to move these superior 
 troops (the Shaggyeh) out of the North Fort, for 
 the approach of the Arabs has filled them with dis- 
 may. I have kept moving them from every place 
 the Arabs came near. It is really absurd that one 
 should have to pay and keep such troops. I will say 
 Ferratch Pasha (however irritating he is in some 
 ways) is always the gentleman, which I am sorry to 
 say / am not^ with the fury I get in on state occa- 
 sions. A woman came in from the South Front ; she 
 says they are all my old soldiers who are fighting on 
 the left bank of the Nile, and that they lost heav- 
 ily on the day the Husseinyeh got aground. I am 
 moving these Shaggyeh to the lines ; it is no use ex- 
 posing them to be attacked. The Arabs now on the 
 North Front opposite the Palace are the men of the
 
 316 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 Malidi, not as befoi-e the men of the Sheikh el 
 Obeyed, who do not seem to have entered cordially 
 into the second blockade of Kartoum. We had to- 
 night the Arab forces all around us, and are regu- 
 larly hemmed in, but the town does not care a bit, 
 and are fighting questions of pay with me, for I am 
 paying in paper the three months' backsheesh I 
 promised them. 
 
 The major who was shot when lying on his angarep, 
 and who died of his wound, was 3000 yards distant 
 from the Arabs. We do not know yet the effect of 
 the rifle in a dropping fire. I offered, in paying the 
 three months' backsheesh to the troops, to give orders 
 for bulk sums .£120, X130, but they refused to accept 
 them ; they want the regular 'pai:)er money ^ so I 
 have issued X10,000 more in £50 notes. In this 
 paper money notes / am personally responsible for 
 the liquidation, and any one may bring an action 
 against me, in my individual capacity, to recover 
 the money, while in the orders it might be a query 
 whether they (the authorities of Cairo) might not 
 decline to pay the orders. Paper money now cannot 
 be bought at a discount. People have tried to buy 
 it up, but they failed.^^ I consider this is very satis- 
 factory for one's credit. Her Majesty's Government, 
 as well as the Soudan people, will not need to name a 
 vessel after me in order to remember me, even if they 
 felt so disposed, which I very much doubt. We shall 
 get lots of spies in now the Arabs have hemmed 
 us in. In these deserts, if you leave a space un- 
 guarded you see at once any one moving over it; 
 
 53 Showing how thoroughly they trusted General Gordon. — Ed.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 317 
 
 but i£ you surround it entirely, there is the usual 
 going to and fro, and thus a spy slips in. I do not 
 think it is realised what happened in Hicks' defeat 
 a year ago. 10,000 soldiers, including 2000 cavalry, 
 4000 camp-followers, 7000 camels, perished in two 
 days from thirst;^ 1700 rifles, 1,000,000 rounds 
 Remington ammunition, were captured ; 7 Krupps, 
 6 Nordenfeldts, 29 mountain guns, with 500 rounds 
 each, were captured (perhaps 300 men were spared 
 out of the host). Eight Englishmen and 8 Germans 
 were killed, and, according to all accounts, they were 
 so exhausted that they were unable to move. Stew- 
 art took great pains to get all the details, and wrote 
 them in his Journal. The Arabs have made a pyra- 
 mid of the skulls. The major who was woimded at 
 Mogrim was sleei^ing in the telegraph station in the 
 fort. He found it hot, and went out and got struck 
 and died. If you went to the fort at Mogrim you 
 would (on seeing the position whence the Arabs fire) 
 say you were as safe there as in Regent Street. This 
 man was a very timorous man, and had avoided 
 every service of the least danger. It is of no use 
 fighting against your destiny. The Doctor described 
 to me to-night the state of the town a year ago, 
 when they heard of the defeat of Hicks ; and one 
 compares it to our present state, when one may say 
 perfect confidence exists in the town, and every one 
 has gone comfortably to bed — it is a lesson to man 
 to never despair. 
 
 November 19. — The Arabs came down, 7 a. m., 
 
 64 See Appendix upon the insurrection of the False Prophet. — Ed.
 
 318 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 to Goba, opposite the Palace, and fired, but did no 
 harm ; they are pulling down Seyd Mahomet Os- 
 man's house, which was spared. Ferratch Ullah 
 did not dare to go out for the three cows killed last 
 night. The Arabs had a bugler of ours mth them 
 at Goba ; he bugled a call " 1st Regiment ! " and 
 then was apj)arently stopped ; he then bugled " We 
 are strong ! We are strong ! " I have packed up 
 and addressed to the chief of staff, Soudan Expe- 
 ditionary Force, " all European telegrams sent from 
 and received m the Soudan for years 1883-84," 
 and send the box with this portion of the Journal.^ 
 The Arabs have put a gun in the breastwork on 
 the left bank of the White Nile below Omdurman 
 Fort, so as to bar the entrance to Kartoum on the 
 north. 
 
 We have communicated with Omdurman Fort 
 with flags, it is all right. The Arabs are not firing 
 to-day (since 8.30 a. m.). Twelve days have to 
 elapse ere the month's rations become due ; this even- 
 ing it is reported to me that those utterly useless 
 troops — some fifty Bashi Bazouks — began crying 
 that they had nothing to eat, and even went so far 
 as to throw down their arms ; now this is rather too 
 much, considering that they are receiving the full 
 rations of soldiers, and also the pay of men who are 
 supposed to find themselves, so that it is a j)erfectly 
 gratuitous gift to give them rations at all, or if I 
 do so, I should cut their pay; the best of it is, that 
 I have given them full rations for the month, which 
 has twelve days yet to run ere that month is out. I 
 
 S5 These have not been handed over by the Grovemment. — Ed.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 319 
 
 do not know if ever the Expeditionary Force will 
 come here, and I do not know the policy which will 
 be pursued ; but there is one thing I think I am 
 justified in demanding, that is the disbandment of 
 these brutes, to whom only yesterday I gave a gra- 
 tuity of fifty dollars to erect their breastwork — a to- 
 tally unnecessary proceeding on my part. Of course 
 if I can hand over the Government to the Expedi- 
 tionary Force's Leader I have nothing to say; he 
 can do as he likes. What irritates me is, that a 
 row like this is aided and abetted by every officer, 
 inasmuch as it is to me the row is brought, they 
 daring not to decide ; of course it must be seen 
 that, situated as we are, if one corps can take rations 
 for a month and eat them in a fortnight, and then 
 get more, it is virtually giving double rations to the 
 troops, for if you gave to one part, all the rest 
 would want it. 
 
 November 20. — A caravan of 300 men and twenty 
 camels came up the left bank of the White Nile, 
 from the direction of Metemma. 7 A. M. A soldier 
 who came in from the Arabs says, "The Mahdi 
 sent 2000 men down towards Metemma on account 
 of the advance of the Expedition, who are near 
 Berber." Also "reports the advance of King Jo- 
 hannes" (which I doubt). I expect the caravan 
 seen to-day is a caravan with the money from Ber- 
 ber. Report in the town says the Arabs have been 
 repulsed three times by the Expeditionary Force. 
 The Arabs are very quiet to-day ; their Nordenf eldt 
 kept on grunting at intervals this morning. Four
 
 320 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 of those precious troops the Shaggyeh (one a Bashi 
 Bazouk) have deserted to the Arabs ; it was never 
 reported to me. I have a suspicion that more have 
 gone. We communicated with Omdurman Fort by 
 flag-signals ; they are all right. The Arabs fired 
 from their guns on the White Nile, and from the 
 Omdurman side, a few rounds this evening. 
 
 It is rather astonishing to find that the row about 
 the rations the night before last was made by the 
 Cairo Bashi Bazouks, who are completely at one's 
 mercy, for the Arabs would never look at them ; ^ 
 they even went so far as to throw down their arms ! 
 A volley of lies was told about this affair, trying to 
 prevent me hearing the truth. However, I got at 
 the bottom of it, and have noted my friends. A 
 merchant here had a partner in business, who went 
 to the Arabs eight months ago with ,£3000 belong- 
 ing to this merchant, who coolly asks me to pay the 
 £3000 ! ! ! 
 
 November 21. — I do not believe one person has 
 died of hunger during the 8^ months we have been 
 shut up. Ferratch Ullah Bey, in Omdurman, sig- 
 nalled, " Yes, I have 230,000 rounds, but I fire a 
 lot every day." Now this is a corker, for I do not 
 believe he fires ten rounds without my personal 
 knowledge, and I estimate his expenditure of am- 
 munition at under 2000 rounds per diem. By this 
 I expect he wants me to open the road to him, and 
 ammunition is only an excuse ; but I do not care to 
 risk a defeat, or a momentary success, attended with 
 a lot of wounded (we have sixty wounded in hospi- 
 66 If they deserted. — Ed.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 321 
 
 tal now). To-day year came the news to Kartoum 
 of Hicks' defeat. He left this on the 3rd September. 
 The Greek Consul and the Greek Doctor describe 
 the arrival of news thus at Kartoum : At night came 
 in the Bordeen with Coetlogon from the White Nile. 
 The Greek Consul was in his house. Marquet, the 
 French Consul, came to his house and said, " Come 
 to my house, by the garden." He went to Marquet's 
 house ; he found Hussein Pasha Cheri, Ibrahim 
 Pasha Haidar, Coetlogon, Power, and Hansall. He 
 was told " Hicks is Jinished.^^ The Consul sent a 
 telegram to Towfik, " Hicks finished." Then Tow- 
 fik sent a telegram that he would send up reinforce- 
 ments that night. Towfik had a large party at the 
 Abdeen Palace, and reports were rife that something- 
 bad was in the air, but nobody knew anything. 
 Since that day no aid has come to Soudan. I hear 
 that the day before yesterday two corporals (one who 
 had come in from the Arabs), five soldiers, and a 
 clerk, all Soudan soldiers, deserted to the Arabs. 
 This was never reported to me. I expect the officers 
 have robbed them. 
 
 Ferratch Ullah Bey, of Omdurman, signals he 
 has only 43,000 rounds left. This, out of 230,000 
 rounds, and I feel sure he tells fibs, and is acting in 
 order to force me to relieve him, which I shall not 
 attempt. He says he has had twenty-five wounded 
 and eleven killed. Church parades all round to-day. 
 The Arabs fired at Bourre and at Tuti this morning. 
 
 To-day I discovered a robbery of Ruckdi, my old 
 clerk, about which there could be no doubt whatever, 
 so I have turned him out, and written to cancel his 
 21
 
 822 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 being made a Bey. A woman came in from the 
 Arabs. She says the Expedition left Merowe for 
 Berber, and that Mahomet Achmet will try, on 
 Monday, the 24th November, to take Omdurman 
 Fort. This is disagreeable news ! However, I have 
 done what I can, and one can do no more than trust 
 now. What has been the painful position for me is 
 that there is not one person on whom I can rely ; 
 also, there is not one person who considers that he 
 ought to do anything except his routine duty. We 
 have now been months blockaded, and things are 
 critical ; yet not one of my subordinates, except the 
 chief clerk and his subordinate, appears to-day. I 
 had to send for them, and wait till they came, per- 
 haps an hour. " It is Friday, and it is unreasonable 
 to expect us at the office," is what they say. My 
 patience is almost exhausted with this continuous 
 apparently never-ending trial ; there is not one de- 
 partment which I have not to superintend as closely 
 as if I was its direct head. The officer who com- 
 manded the post from which the men deserted never 
 told me, but says he told Ferratch Pasha. This 
 Ferratch Pasha denies, and so it goes on, tissues of 
 lies, and they no more care about being found out 
 than not. It is indeed hopeless work, and yet, truly, 
 they have been treated most handsomely in every 
 way. Nearly every order, except when it is for their 
 interest, has to be repeated two, and even three, 
 times. I may truly say I am weary of my life ; day 
 and night, night and day, it is one continual worry .^'' 
 
 ^ Here succeed some dozen lines through which General Gordon has 
 drawn his pen. Underneath is written, " Abuse of Baring & Co. " — Ed.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 323 
 
 Our breastworks at Tuti are bothering the Arabs 
 near Omdurman. A soldier came in from the 
 Arabs ; he had nothing to say of importance. We 
 have got a breastwork also towards Goba, on the 
 Isle of Tuti. I have given those improvident troops 
 15,000 okes of biscuits. I sincerely hope I may 
 never be besieged with such a garrison another time. 
 A slave came in, and reports " that Berber has been 
 taken by the troops from Kassala, and that the 
 Arab Governor of Berber arrived at the Mahdi's two 
 days ago (perhaps the caravan we saw yesterday) ; 
 also that " the four steamers have gone to Berber, 
 one being disahled, or aground, or sunk ! " If this 
 is the case, it is that brute Nutzer Bey or Pasha who 
 (keeping himself well under cover) has disobeyed 
 my repeated orders as to " not taking the steamers 
 against the guns, but to stay quietly at Shendy and 
 wait for the Expedition." The last order that I 
 sent him was that " I would cancel his appointment 
 as Pasha if he dared to disobey me again." But of 
 what avail is that ? 
 
 'November 22. — Slight firing at Bourr^ and Goba 
 this morning. A soldier deserted to the Arabs last 
 night, with his rifle. 
 
 A soldier and a slave came in from the Arabs. It 
 appears more Shaggyeh deserted to the Arabs than 
 the four I mentioned, but it seems perfectly impos- 
 sible to find out the truth, or even the number of 
 Shaggyeh there are. 
 
 I am terribly anxious for the fort at Omdurman, 
 and am trying to devise some means of occupying
 
 324 
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 the Arabs, and diverting their attention elsewhere. 
 Omdurman Fort signals they are all right ; they had 
 another man wounded. Up to date we have had, 
 passing through the hospital, 242 wounded. We 
 have had some 1800 to 1900 killed (between 17th 
 March and 22ud November). 
 
 This is the present state of affairs ; the Arab 
 camps are about five miles from the city. 
 
 Camp C is on river. 
 
 A is one mile from river ; camps D and E are 
 three to four miles from the river. Of these num- 
 bers perhaps there are 3000 to 4000 fighting men, 
 and 600 horsemen to 800 horsemen in the whole 
 lot. There is nothing like being precise in these
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 325 
 
 days, and it saves a deal of talking if one knows a 
 man's ideas beforehand. If the Expedition comes 
 here before the place falls (which is doubtful), and 
 if the instructions are to evacuate the place at once, 
 and leave Kassala and Sennaar, ^c, I will resign, 
 and have nothing more to do with the Government 
 of the place, or of the Soudan ; and this I have a 
 perfect right to do, and no one, not even the Soudan 
 troops or people, covdd say one word. It will de- 
 pend on circumstances how I shall act in re my com- 
 mission in Her Majesty's Service (which I do not 
 hold too fast to, seeing any future employment would 
 not be accepted, even if in the very improbable case 
 of its being offered) ; but I consider that every of- 
 ficer has a right to resign, and if he resigns he is no 
 longer subject to military orders, and is free to go 
 when and where he likes. It may be argued I was 
 named Governor-General " in order to carry out the 
 evacuation of the Soudan, and that I am bound to 
 carry that out, which is quite correct, but I was named 
 for EVACUATION OF SoUDAN " (against which I 
 have nothing to say), not to run away from Kar- 
 toum and leave the garrisons elseiohere to their fate S''^ 
 If it is positively determined on not to looTc after the 
 garrisons, and not to establish some sort of provi- 
 sional Government in the Soudan, then the course 
 to pursue is to name a Governor in my place on day 
 
 68 Sir E. Baring, in writing to General Gordon on the instructions of 
 H. M. Government conveyed to him, saj's, "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 Kar- 
 toum and the abandonment of all the other garrisons in the Soudan." 
 — Ed.
 
 326 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 of arnval, and carry out with that Governor that 
 policy which, I have already said, is one of very great 
 danger (putting all the other considerations aside). 
 Personally, looking at the matter from a very 
 SELFISH POINT OF VIEW (and seeing I have done 
 my best to prevent this policy being followed, and 
 am impatient to oppose it), I should be much re- 
 lieved at this denouejnent, for I should be in Brus- 
 sels on 20th January. 
 
 I have given 6000 lbs. of biscuit out to the poor 
 (I expect half will be stolen), and I shaU sell to- 
 morrow 90,000 lbs. to the townspeople. I am deter- 
 mined if the town does fall, the Mahdi shall find 
 precious little to eat in it. Two soldiers got hold of 
 the head of a shell-rocket fired by Arabs, and, hav- 
 ing nothing better to do, they set to work to open it. 
 It burst, and has nearly killed one, and wounded the 
 other — the effects of curiosity ! 
 
 Novemher 23. — A soldier came in at the North 
 Fort from the Arabs ; he says the Expedition has 
 captured Berber, and are advancing on this, and the 
 Arabs want to attack Tuti Isle. 
 
 The Arabs, this morning, fired from Goba on 
 breastwork of Tuti. The soldier says my noble 
 friend, Nutzer Pasha, kept safely all the steamers 
 at Shendy, and never aided in any way at Berber. 
 The Arabs are (so says this soldier) collecting at 
 Halfeyeh to receive the Expedition, but I do not 
 think it. 
 
 Three women came in last night from the Arabs 
 to North Fort ; they had been captured during the
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 327 
 
 raid the Arabs made on the Shaggyeh some days 
 ago. 
 
 The soldier who came in brought two rifles and 
 two belts of ammunition. 
 
 Ferratch Ullah Bey, of Omdurman Fort, reports 
 " he is all right," by signal. 
 
 A report has come in that the Expedition had 
 arrived at Metemma, and had encountered the 
 Arabs twice ; that a steamer had been sent up to 
 inform me, but the Arab guns had forced her to 
 return ; they say that this report has come into the 
 town by men who have friends in the Mahdi's camp, 
 and who had seen some of the Arabs wounded. 
 This news is five days old. Very few Arabs in the 
 camp on the north of the Palace. The Shaggyeh 
 came and asked me to let them go up and pillage 
 the Arab camp as there were so few in it ; they 
 knew well that I knew if I did give them leave they 
 would not go, so it was a safe volunteer on their 
 part. A caravan of Arabs came from the north to 
 the Arab camp this morning. The Arabs have only 
 one gun on the Omdurman side now ; I expect the 
 rest are taken down against the Expedition. We 
 have only 541 rounds of Krupp ammunition left for 
 our two Kjupps. I went to Mogrim, and practised 
 on the Arab House where their gun is, 1600 yards 
 range ; we put three shells into it, upon which the 
 Arabs left. I am still apprehensive of an attack on 
 Omdurman Fort, and have the Ismailia steamer 
 ready. I have sent down thirty rockets (sky) to 
 Mogrim to be fired off ; this will bother the Arabs, 
 who will not know what to make of it, and will
 
 328 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 think we have got some very important neios. I 
 know if this happened when / was meditating an 
 assault, I should hesitate before I made that assault 
 after the fireworks. 
 
 November 24, 6 a. m. — Arabs came down and 
 fired on the Isle of Tuti from Goba. Ferratch Ul- 
 lah Bey of Omdurman reports all well ; another man 
 had been wounded, and one had died. A slave came 
 in from the Arabs on the South Front, who says 
 there is no news of the Expedition in Waled a 
 Goun's camp. 12.15 p. m. The Arabs near Om- 
 durman Fort are retiring from their position near 
 the small steamer, and are burning the straw huts ; 
 our men are firing on them, and they do not reply ; 
 the Husseinyeh steamer has slipped down towards 
 deeper water, of herself. I am sending down the 
 Ismailia to reconnoitre. The Arabs have not fired 
 from their gun at Omdurman to-day. It appears 
 the Husseinyeh has sunk, so that may be the reason 
 of the Arabs retiring. I expect the Mahdi wanted 
 his troops, who were guarding the steamer Hussein- 
 yeh, and so he sent off men last night to sink her, 
 and that is the history of the retreat. It is some- 
 what of a relief to me, for I expect it shows the 
 Arabs will not make an assault on Omdurman Fort. 
 Perhaps our fireworks last night all along the lines 
 made the Mahdi think I had some great news, which 
 he did not know of ; we fired from five places fifteen 
 sky-rockets at one concerted moment. They report 
 from Mogrim that the Arabs retreated before the 
 Husseinyeh sank, but I expect that is a fib, and that
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 329 
 
 they did not leave till she sank ; it is against all 
 reason with a falling river, and, fixed on a level as 
 she was, she sank untouched. The fact is, I expect, 
 that the man put to watch her was asleep, and the 
 Arabs, trying to capture her, drew her into deep 
 water, when the water got into her shot-hole. 1.30 
 p. M. The Ismailia went down to the junction of 
 the Blue and White Niles, and the Arab guns 
 opened on her, so she has come back. I have sent 
 down to make inquiries on the quiet, whether the 
 Arabs returned befoke or after the sinking of the 
 Husseinyeh. The Arabs fired five rounds at the 
 Ismailia. The Arabs came back to their breast- 
 work when the Ismailia appeared, but on her return 
 they also went back. If the Husseinyeh had not had 
 a shot-hole in her, the Arabs would have captured 
 her ; but, as I had taken her steam-cocks off, they 
 could not use her. We may be able to raise her if 
 she has sunk evenly. The steamer has sunk evenly, 
 for her funnel is above water. 
 
 I expect the Arabs put a slave-boy to turn the 
 handle of the Nordenfeldt, for it keeps on grunting 
 all day at intervals of half seconds, but does no 
 harm. 
 
 November 25. — Arabs came to Goba this morn- 
 ing and fired on the Isle of Tuti for half an hour. 
 It is quite true the Arabs did work at the Hussein- 
 yeh and caused her to sink, and on her sinking they 
 retired ; the sentries in our lines being all asleep, as 
 I had supposed. Ferratch UUah Bey of Omdurman 
 Fort reports all well ; he has another death among
 
 330 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 his wounded. I have promised him three days' pay 
 for every day he and his men are shut up. 1.15 P. M. 
 Steamers in sight ; the Doctor saw them first. The 
 steamers are firing ; only one steamer in sight. 
 
 The Arabs had three guns at Halfeyeh against the 
 coming-in steamer. 2,30 P. M. I have sent down the 
 Ismailia to cover the incoming steamer. The Arabs 
 are grunting with their Nordenf eldt, and firing from 
 their gun. Mogrim is playing on them with the 
 Krupp, and Tuti with their mountain gun. 2.45 P. M. 
 For the last half hour the firing on the part of Arabs 
 on the advancing steamer has been most furious with 
 guns and musketry ; we replying. I am grateful to 
 say that, after this hot reception, she has got in safe 
 to Mogrim. 
 
 If any of6cer of the Expedition is on board, he 
 will know what it is to be in a penny boat ! under 
 cannon fire. The Borcleen has come in; she has 
 seven wounded. There are no Arabs at Shoboloha, 
 or (consequently) guns ; the wounded were from two 
 shells fired by the Arabs from Halfeyeh. The Expe- 
 ditionary Force is at Ambukol (which is lively !) ;^^ 
 the Arabs had four gims at Halfeyeh ; one woman 
 was killed in the Borcleen : the letters received by 
 the Borcleen are of no great import, for they do not 
 tell me the route the Expedition will take, and I 
 have received a later post — that of 14th October. 
 
 Two men were wounded at Mogrun to-day. Ac- 
 cording to the report of the two men who came 
 from Dongola, it is not certain that the Abbas is cap- 
 tured. 
 
 59 That is to saj', the Expeditionary Force was 185 miles further from 
 Kartoum than General Gordon expected it to be. — Ed.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 331 
 
 I enclose a telegram,^'' which we cannot decipher. 
 I imagine Colonel Stewart has the key, it being 
 probably Foreign Office cipher. 
 
 Towfik, by a telegram, cancels his firman, which 
 gives up the Soudan,^i which I have torn up, but 
 enclose ; (this telegram ^^ I received to-day). 
 
 A telegram to the Ulemas from Towfik says : 
 " Baring " is coming up with Lord Wolseley. 
 
 November 26. — One man came to Goba and fired 
 two shots and retired. The Arabs fired three rounds 
 at Fort Omdurman. The fort reports all right. 
 Nutzi Pasha reports that the money at Berber has 
 been taken up to the Mahdi. He sends up four 
 wounded. He says the Expedition is advancing in 
 three parties — one to Berber from Ambukol, one 
 from Ambukol to Metemma, and one from Ambukol 
 to Shoboloha. This letter was written six days ago. 
 A caravan came across from the north to the Mahdi's 
 camp to-day. The Arabs at Metemma have crossed 
 to Shendy and gone into the interior. Foul" fel- 
 laheen soldiers deserted from Nutzi Pasha and went 
 to the Arabs — I expect through his ill-treatment of 
 them. 
 
 There are three long telegrams in cipher, which I 
 cannot make out, pasted on the other side.^^ 
 
 I had a letter saying Government had given 
 Kitchener carte hlanche to pay the Mahdi up to 
 
 60 General Gordon marks on back of this telegram, which is one of 
 three, " Telegraph of which Colonel Stewart has the key." 
 
 61 Appendix Y. 
 
 62 The one alluded to in former paragraph. 
 
 63 See above.
 
 332 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 .£20,000 for me; but adds, the "writer does not 
 think I would accejDt such a proposition ; " in which 
 he is quite right ; neither would the Mahdi. 
 
 I like Baker's description of Kitchener. 
 
 " The man whom I have always placed my hopes 
 upon, Major Kitchener, E. E., who is one of the few 
 very superior British officers, with a cool and good 
 head and a hard constituti£)n, combined with untir- 
 ing energy, has now pushed up to Dongola, and has 
 proved that the Mudir is dependable. The latter 
 has given him a letter received from you asking 
 about reinforcements, and stating that you have 
 8000 troops at Kartoum, and that Sennaar is still 
 occupied by the Government forces." ^"* 
 
 There was a slight laugh when Kartoum heard 
 Baring was bumping ^^ his way up hei'e, for so we 
 read Towfik's telegram — a regular Nemesis. 
 
 I am sure we are deprived of a treat in not being 
 able to decipher the long telegrams on the preceding 
 page. It also is delicious to find not one civil word 
 from any official personage except Kitchener ; it re- 
 lieves me immensely (also I must except Towfik, 
 who in his despatch was civil and polite). Evidently 
 I am in disgrace ! How fearful ! 
 
 According to the man who came yesterday the 
 Ahbas struck a rock, and the two boats surrendered 
 to the Arabs. I have no doubt but that the Arabs 
 have captured the steamer Ahbas, for the Arab 
 chief of Berber sent to Cassim el Mousse an impres- 
 
 64 This account of Major Eatchener 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. 
 
 65 /. e. coming up on a camel. — Ed.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 333 
 
 slon of the seal I used when I was up here before, 
 and which I sent down by Stewart. Now, it is im- 
 possible he could have known this unless he had 
 possession of the seal, for I do not think Stewart 
 knew it. The Arabs at Omdurraan have the slave 
 boy grinding away at their Nordenfeldt. I have 
 sent one of our French mitrailleuses down to grind 
 on them. If Baring does bumj) his way up here as 
 British Commissioner, I shall consider he has expi- 
 ated his faults and shall forgive him. We seldom 
 realise our position. In ten or twelve years' time 
 Baring, Lord Wolseley, myself, Evelyn Wood, &c., 
 will have no teeth, and will be deaf; some of us 
 will be quite passe ; no one will come and court us ; 
 new Barings, new Lord Wolseleys will have arisen, 
 who will call us " bloaks " and " twaddlers." " Oh ! 
 for goodness' sake come away, then ! Is that dread- 
 ful bore coming? If once he gets alongside you, 
 you are in for half an hour," will be the remark of 
 some young captain of the present time on seeing 
 you enter the Club. This is very humiliating, for 
 we, each one, think we are immortal. That jDoor 
 old General . . . who for years vegetated at the 
 
 end of street close to Clubs ! who ever visited 
 
 him ? Better a ball in the brain than to flicker out 
 unheeded, like he did. 
 
 November 26. — The ex-Khedive will chuckle over 
 Baring's ride to the Soudan. I can fancy him 
 twinkling his little eyes over it. He came up in his 
 youth to Dongola with his uncle Ismail Pasha, a 
 slim youth ; Halim (the rightful heir to the Khedi-
 
 334 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 viat after Ismail) also was here as Governor-General 
 for three weeks, but he bolted back, without leave, 
 from Said Pasha, who was then Viceroy. If Ismail, 
 ex-Khedive, could only get Malet, Vivian, and Col- 
 vin to go this ride, I think he would forgive his 
 deposition. I have published the telegram of Towfik 
 to me, and to the Notables (note that in this tele- 
 gram, Towfik — a year late, it is true — says he is 
 sorry for Hicks' army destruction !), saying he will 
 retain the Soudan. Whoever comes up here had 
 better appoint Major Kitchener Governor-General, 
 for it is certain, after what has passed, I am impos- 
 sible. (What a comfort !) 
 
 November 27. — The Arabs fired with artillery 
 and musketry on Bourr^ for about an hour this 
 morning. They fired three shells at Omdurman 
 Fort, who signals it is all right. 
 
 Two slaves came in to-day; they say the Arabs 
 are wanting in ammunition. I do not wonder at it, 
 at the way they fire it away ; they say the Mahdi 
 has had a revelation that the Turks will keep the 
 country for eight years ; that he is to go back and 
 come again at the end of the eight years.^^ The 
 little captured steamer Mahomet All came down 
 near Giraffe last night, and then went back. 
 
 If Kitchener would take the place, he would be 
 the best man to put in as Governor-General, but I 
 must confess I think, loith our Government constir 
 
 66 There is some significance in this. The Mahdi in all probability 
 knew General Gordon had recommended Turkish troops being dis- 
 patched to the Soudan, and felt he could not hold the country against 
 them if they came. — Ed.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 335 
 
 tuted as it is, that foi* Her Majesty's Government 
 to take the charge of these countries would be a very 
 serious burden, and that the only solution would be 
 the Sultan taking them over, with a subsidy and the 
 ports of Suakin and Massowah. Judging from 
 Towfik's telegram to me, it woidd seem that the 
 Hewitt Treaty has fallen through, for he speaks of 
 the retention of Kassala, 
 
 Our Government has two courses to pursue : one 
 to appoint Kitchener or some other Governor-Gen- 
 eral, and to be prepared to give him X500,000 a 
 year for two years, for he will never get any taxes 
 worth speaking of ; for two years, also, our Govern- 
 ment must be prepared to renew the stores, war 
 material, &c., and give 6000 extra soldiers to the 
 Soudan. Second, to give the country over to the 
 Sultan with two millions and the ports. 
 
 To me the last is the best and speediest course to 
 pursue ; it rids Her Majesty's Government for ever 
 of any responsibility. If the first course was taken, 
 to my mind, a sine qud non for its success would be, 
 to make up with France in I'e Egypt. 
 
 There is one other course, an intermediate one, 
 viz., Zubair, with .£100,000 a year, and replenished 
 magazines. 
 
 About forty females congregated under my win- 
 dow, yelling for food. It delights me to think of 
 the treat Baring will have when he gets here (if 
 ever he does). I do not think there are 500 Arabs 
 in the camp on north side, and no horsemen, though 
 their straw huts extend further than they did in the 
 first blockade. The Zubair steamer was launched
 
 336 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 to-day. With respect to the force of Arabs on 
 north side it may be said, "if so few, why not at- 
 tack them ; " but supposing I was wrong, and they 
 were more than I think, a defeat woukl cause the 
 fall of the town, therefore I will not risk it. 
 
 The Ulemas and Notables got a telegram from 
 Towfik excusing himself for his indolence. They 
 came to-day and wished to send an answer, which I 
 agreed to. They did this of their free will, and 
 NOT PEOMPTED MUCH BY ME. It will make Towfik 
 hop. Of the Ulemas who came, two (the Sheikh 
 el Islam and the Cadi) had been imprisoned by 
 me.6' 
 
 Novemher 28. — Fort Omdurman all right. An- 
 other of the wounded has died. Two soldiers came 
 in from the Arabs. Small church parades, that on 
 the Blue Nile rather larger than usual. We have 
 to-day in store 174,400 okes of biscuit and 1165 
 ardebs of dhoora, which is not bad after 261 days' 
 blockade. A slave has come in at the North Fort, 
 and says the Arabs are expecting four steamers to 
 come up. I hope that the officer in command will 
 clear Halfeyeh before he pushes on to this, for he 
 may get a shell from the Arabs at Omdurman into 
 one of his steamers. I do not like to risk the Bor- 
 deen down by herself to give this warning. If the 
 steamers do come up, and have not the sense to stop 
 at Halfeyeh, I shall endeavour to warn them by a 
 tremendous fire on the Arabs at Omdurman. The 
 
 67 They were two of the sixteen General Gordon imprisoned for con- 
 spiring with the Mahdi. — Ed.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 337 
 
 danger is at the Ras, or nose (x), 
 on the junction of the rivers. We 
 are protecting the Bordeen by cas- 
 ing her steam-chest with wood. The 
 proper thing to do would be to clear 
 the Halfeyeh camp of the Arabs 
 before coming on here. You could 
 then communicate with Kartoum by land, and avoid 
 having to run in penny steamboats the gauntlet of 
 Arab guns. 
 
 A woman came in from the Arabs. She says yes- 
 terday morning a man came to the Arab camp on 
 the north side who said that the Expedition had cap- 
 tured Berber, and that four steamers were on their 
 way here ; that the Arabs sent out men to see if this 
 was true, and that it is my own soldiers who are now 
 fighting against us. 
 
 If the news that Berber is captured is true, the 
 steamers will be towing up boats (fifty of which are 
 at Berber) and will not be here for some days. 2 
 p. M. I think the Arabs are making an embrasure at 
 Goba, with the view of bombarding the Palace. I 
 can see this with my glass. 
 If they do this, it will not 
 hurt us, and it will take their 
 men and guns from off the river, where their gun-fire 
 is alone dangerous to the steamers. It is rather 
 amusing to see the personality ^^ of this Arab bat- 
 tery. The range is 2200 yards from here, but as 
 we never hit anything we fire at at that distance, I 
 
 68 /. e. the way in which this battery was directed towards that part 
 of the Palace which the Arabs knew General Gordon inhabited. — Ed. 
 22
 
 338 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 think I shall be safe in the Palace from the Arab 
 fire. The mountain shell mtII not penetrate the walls 
 at that distance, as we know from a shell which 
 struck the North Fort some time ago. I expect they 
 will begin to-morrov/ morning at daybreak. 1 have 
 fired eight or ten rounds at them ; which brought 
 them out to look, but it is quite a chance if the 
 Remington reaches them at that range. There was 
 a time when one would have been anxious for the 
 Palace, but that has gone by. It will not be the 
 first time I have been fired on by my own soldiers ; 
 for in China two men of the 31st Regiment were 
 on the breach of Taitsan and one was killed. The 
 other, with a shell splinter, was taken prisoner. " Mr. 
 Gordon ! Mr. Gordon, you will not let me be killed." 
 " Take him down to the river and shoot him ; " and 
 ffMide, " Put him in my boat : let the doctor attend 
 him, and send him to Shanghai." He was sent 
 down to Shanghai, and got three or six months" im- 
 prisonment by court-martial for deserting, and I 
 dare say he exists at present. His name was Har- 
 greaves. I do not know his regimental number. 
 
 Baring to Egerton : " Metemma ! at last, after 
 the most fearful sufferings, evei'y bone in my body 
 dislocated from those beastly camels. Pound here 
 his Journal, from which it appears that that duffer, 
 the Mahdi, has at last roused himself, but I fear 
 it is too late. As to the tone of the Journal, it is 
 simply dejjlorable, and (do not mention it, please) he 
 has actually made a sketch (brace yourself up to 
 bear it) of our high priest. Excuse more, for what 
 with the bumping of the camel and the depravity
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 339 
 
 shown by this scoffer, I am more dead than alive." 
 A Bashi Bazouk (no loss), a bugler, and two musi- 
 cians (of our terrible band) deserted to Arabs yester- 
 day ; as . . . says, it is " incorrigible." This is owing 
 to the robbery of the rations by the officers. 
 
 JVovember 29. — Omdurman Fort all right, but 
 three men deserted to the Arabs. Truly this life is 
 almost insupportable : the officers have been robbing 
 the men of their rations, and the storekeeper has 
 been giving them short weight. One feels utterly 
 powerless to contend with these affairs, and unless 
 the Expedition comes soon the place will fall from 
 the venality of these people.^^ They know I cannot 
 possibly find out their misdeeds, and chuckle over 
 it. The Arabs are working away at their battery at 
 Goba. 
 
 It is odd that among the despised Egyptian fel- 
 laheen soldiers this robbery of rations does not take 
 place. It is only among the officers, &c., of the 
 black troops. 1 P. M. I hear that the soldiers way- 
 lay the women, to whom I have given biscuit, and 
 rob them ! 
 
 I have a strong conviction that neither Baring nor 
 Lord W. have taken the precaution of bringing a 
 firman from Towfik Pasha, giving them a legal status 
 superior to mine in the Soudan. If this conviction 
 is the case (and the fiction of Towfik being supreme 
 ruler is kept up), then it is for me to name the 
 
 69 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 enenij', or the 
 robbers and cheats will be bought over by the Mahdi. — Ed.
 
 340 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 Governor-General, and I feel strongly disposed to 
 print off proclamations to be issued on arrival of 
 Expedition (if ever it does arrive), by which I relin- 
 quish the government in favour of the officer com- 
 manding the Expedition. Of course, if a firman is 
 brought, then the situation is different ; but if not 
 brought, and the fiction is going to he kept up, I 
 have a perfect right to vacate the government, and 
 to appoint whomsoever I like, subject to the ulti- 
 mate approval of Towfik Pasha. It may be that 
 the officer commanding the Expedition may demur 
 to his appointment, but his doing so will not absolve 
 him of the responsibility thus officially placed on 
 him if the town falls. 
 
 The great question, " Is any officer, civil or mili- 
 tary, of the Expedition possessed of a firman of 
 Towfik?" If not, there is not the least doubt that 
 the dejure power is with me to name whom I like 
 (except in the case of a civil or military officer an- 
 nouncing to the people that the British Government 
 has annexed Egypt). There can be no question of 
 military discipline in this, for what has a foreign 
 Power to do with the civil functionaries of Towfik, 
 unless they usurp his (Towfik's) functions ? 
 
 Two more soldiers deserted to-day. 8 p. m. The 
 Arabs came down to the ruins of village ojiposite, 
 and fired on the Palace. I sent the buglers up to 
 the roof of the Palace, who by their own accounts 
 killed thousands, and the Arabs retired. I have 
 got so accustomed to the sound of the firing, that I 
 can tell when the report of firing is from Arahs on 
 Tuti or Palace, or our men from Tuti or North
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 841 
 
 Fort. Also if it is the Arabs firing on Mogrim 
 or Bourre, or our men firing on them, from these 
 places. According to the directions of the muzzles of 
 the rifles, so are the sounds. I think I would like 
 to be in a real siege, with no civil population or rob- 
 bers of officers to bully me. To-night a sortie with 
 fifty men would give the Arabs a dose which they 
 would not forget ; but it is no use, we are not up to 
 it. The buglers say they killed thirty (! ! !) be- 
 tween them. 
 
 November 30. — Fort Omdurman all right. A 
 slave came from the Arabs to it last night. Arabs 
 (10.30 A. M.) have fired two rounds from their 
 (" personality ") ™ battery at Goba, but the projec- 
 tiles did not reach the Palace. 
 
 I hear that one of the shells fired by Arabs did 
 reach the town, and fell behind the Palace. They 
 have fired three rounds more, and then the house in 
 which they had their gun fell down. They are now 
 digging away to get out the gun. I expect the gun- 
 carriage requires repair, for the house was a good 
 height. 11.15 A. M. Arabs either had another gun 
 besides that in the house which fell down, or that 
 gun was not damaged in the fall of the house, for 
 they have just fired another round at the North 
 Fort. Noon. The Arabs fired three more rounds 
 at the North Fort. The shells burst in the air, and 
 the Arabs have now gone to dinner. Another man 
 deserted to the Arabs ; he had previously deserted 
 
 ™ " It is rather amusing to sec ih^i personality of this Arab battery: " 
 p. 337. —Ed.
 
 342 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 from the Arabs to us. Two of the band reported to 
 have deserted to the Arabs have been found in the 
 town. The Arabs at Goba (whom I do not think 
 number more than 40 ! ! !) fired three more rounds 
 from their gun this evening. I feel strongly dis- 
 posed to go over myself with 100 men (against 
 40 !) and attack them to-morrow. It is simply- 
 ridiculous the apathy that is shown. These forty 
 men, which is the outside of their number, are at 
 least four miles from any assistance. The place is 
 so flat and bare that this is a certainty. 
 
 Decernher 1. — During the night the Arabs fired 
 on town with their guns. At daybreak they fired 
 from their guns on the Palace and the North Fort, 
 and on Mogrim and Bourr^. A caravan of seven- 
 teen camels came to the Mahdi from Dongola to-day. 
 The " Nordenfeldt " (Omdurman) has been silent 
 for last three days. Omdurman Fort all right. 
 10.40 A. M. Arabs just fired one shot, which struck 
 water in front of the Palace ; they fired another 
 which burst in the air. 
 
 11 A. M. I have sent down the Bordeen to entice 
 the Arabs to waste their ammunition, which they are 
 doing. 
 
 Towfik's telegram to me was to-day more fully 
 explained, and I gather that he says Lord Wolseley 
 and Sir E. Baring are coming up, and that they will 
 settle the question of the Soudan. I have replied, 
 that it may be convenient for him (Towfik), but it 
 does not meet the case, unless these two officials 
 have a firman from him, giving them authority.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 343 
 
 Now this the two officials will never have, for it 
 virtually would make them Toiojik's suhordinates. 
 It is implied in the telegram that I am to arrange 
 with these two officials as to the Soudan. A delight- 
 ful arrangement for Towfik, but not one so delight- 
 ful for me ; so I have answered him, it is for him 
 (Towfik) to arrange with these two officials, and to 
 se7id his arrangements in the form of a firman here. 
 It is certain that no legal authority exists in the 
 Soudan, except it is held from Towfik, and unless 
 these two officials have authority from Towfik, they 
 have no authority in the Soudan ; now if they hold 
 authority from Towfik, they are under Towfik's 
 orders. 
 
 The " fiction " will not hold good in the Soudan. 
 Though I am pretty well dispirited for the last few 
 days, I cannot help laughing at the fearful mess we 
 are in. Towfik is as sharp as his father, and wants 
 to quietly saddle me with the controversy, reserving 
 to himself the right of criticism, but I do not feel 
 inclined to be thus saddled, and I shall perhaps ap- 
 point Baring Governor-General, subject to the ap- 
 proval of Towfik, and shall bolt. B. may say he 
 will not take it, but he will have no choice, for, if he 
 does not, he throws away any legal status he pos- 
 sesses. He, on his part, may name some one else, 
 but that will be his look out. My object, of course, 
 is to make tracks, if I can do so (without hurting 
 our country, or being the cause of danger in the 
 smallest degree to our troops), and to leave the onus 
 on Baring and the Ministry. I do not feel so kindly 
 to Towfik as to fight his battles up here, which is
 
 844 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 what he evidently aims at, neither do I feel inclined 
 to compromise myself by aiding Baring.'^ I have 
 said the only possible solution is the Sultan, let the 
 subsidy be what it may. The fact is that the ex- 
 peditionary force comes up here as allies of Towfik 
 (unless its Government says it comes up as indepen- 
 dent) ; and as allies of Towfik, it is in all reason sub- 
 ject, as far as civil affairs are concerned, to Towfik ; 
 its officers can issue no decrees, except in his name, 
 save those which concern militaiy operations. A 
 nice accommodating Governor-General would work 
 this affair, without friction. I will not, for I am too 
 deeply involved with the people ; but I want (like a 
 rat) to leave the house before it falls, so the best 
 thing is to hint to me, " make Kitchener Governor- 
 General," " subject to the approval of Toicfik I " 
 Then K. would do all you want, and in a legal way, 
 and you would be happy. Unless you have a supe- 
 rior firman to mine, you cannot make K. Governor- 
 General (even if you had ten million troops), unless 
 you declare yourself the rulers of the land, which 
 you will not do, because of the ninety millions ster- 
 ling of debt on Egypt. 5 P. M. Arabs fired two 
 more shells at the Palace, so I put the three buglers 
 on the roof to practice at them. Thei/ say they 
 killed fifteen. I would much like to know contents 
 of Lord W.'s telegram to me, also the telegrams in 
 cipher from Nubar and Baring ; but I never shall 
 have that pleasure, for I do not expect either this 
 journal will ever be given back, or if it is, that I 
 
 "8 General Gordon here declines to fight the Khedive's ministerial 
 battles. — Ed.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 345 
 
 shall be lent the cipher books to decipher them. 
 The Arabs frred two rounds at the Palace this even- 
 ing; one fell in the water in front of the Palace, 
 and one fell in the garden. Two shells fired by 
 the Arabs from Bourr^ to-day, fell close to the 
 hospital. 
 
 To my mind, this is the idea of H. M. Govern- 
 ment : — Expedition comes up to look after British 
 subjects nominally, but, in reality, to settle futtire 
 government of Soudan, under the pretence that 
 Towfh govefms. Towfik telegraphs to me, " that 
 the British officials will settle future status of the 
 Soudan with me sub rosa! !'''' Now, of course, I 
 may be wrong, but my idea is that the British offi- 
 cials will propose the heeping of Sennaar, Kartoum, 
 Berber, and Dongola, the non-interference with the 
 Mahdi, cession of Kassala to King John, the leav- 
 ing to their fate the Ec[uator Brovi7ices, ^c. And 
 what the British officials propose Towfik will agree 
 to ; but then comes the question, as / consider the 
 proposal is unacceptable (inasmuch as long as the 
 Mahdi is alongside, no peace is possible), I will not 
 accept it, and will leave A. or B. as my, and Tow- 
 fik's, representative, to carry the proposition out. 
 (" Apres moi, le deluge.''''^ No one can blame me 
 for this, for I should be a scoundrel if I accepted 
 any proposition which would eventually give trouble 
 to our country. 
 
 December 2. — The Arabs fired four shells at the 
 Palace at daybreak with no effect. 9 a. m. They 
 have fired four more ; one burst close to my room —
 
 346 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 a little high. I have put two gmis near the Palace 
 to reply to them. Report in town says Waled a 
 Goun's men are passing over from the right bank 
 of the White Nile to the Mahdi's camp on the left 
 bank. Omdurman Fort reports all right. 11 a. m. 
 The Arabs opened fire again on the Palace ; we are 
 answering. The Arabs have now two guns firing on 
 us. There is a report that the Arabs of the Mahdi 
 are going north (on the left bank of the White 
 Nile). Noon. — We have silenced our friends op- 
 posite, having concentrated a heavy fire on them. 
 I nearly lost my eyes this morning, firing on Arabs : 
 the base of the brass cartridge blew out, and sent 
 the fire into my face. This is a fault of the Rem- 
 ington ; the metal case of this cartridge must not 
 be used too often. 
 
 Some people ought to have their heads cut off, if 
 there is to be any quiet in the Soudan. I wonder 
 how our Government will be able to allow this to 
 be done under their nose, for however necessary to 
 cut their heads off, looking to the future peace of the 
 Soudan, they can scarcely be called rebels, for they 
 may say they Avere forced into rebellion by the in- 
 ability of the Government aiding them, and also 
 that they had heard that the Soudan was abandoned. 
 3 P. M. Another battle ! with Arabs at Goba, who, 
 however, have no guns — firing terrific. 3.15 P. m. 
 Battle is over, and we have won. Arabs silent. 
 3.30 p. M. Arabs began it again, by firing their 
 gun. 3.38 p. M. Battle over, an Arab (or most 
 likely one of my men) is standing up, throwing dust 
 in the air (like as Shimei dusting David — " Thou
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 347 
 
 bloody man." 2 Samuel xvi. 8). The Arabs must 
 have used up a lot of ammunition, for they kept up 
 a good fire, though where their bullets went no one 
 could see. The Palace and the North Fort and Mu- 
 duriat being high, our bidlets reach them, but theirs 
 do not appear to reach the river. They have a reg- 
 ular casemate for the two guns, one directed on the 
 Palace and one on the North Fort. They took two 
 days to make it, quite a creditable piece of work, 
 with a screen wall in front. In the Crimea it was 
 
 uriTi ji j-j_Li.iTEriTir)ii 
 
 supposed and considered mean to bob, and one used 
 to try and avoid it. ... used to say, " It is all 
 well enough for you, but I am a family man," and 
 he used to bob at every report. For my part, I 
 think judicious bobbing is not a fault, for I remem- 
 ber seeing on two occasions shells like this " • " 
 before my eyes, which certainly, had I not bobbed, 
 would have taken off my head (" And a good rid- 
 dance too .'' " F. O. would say). I make these re- 
 marks with reference to the Arab rifle fire ; you 
 can see them with the telescope aim directly at this 
 wing of the Palace and fire, and then one hears a 
 thud in the water. I have got quite accustomed to 
 them now. The mitrailleuse (a Gatling) moved 
 them out of their cover this evening ; we have it on 
 the Muduriat. The Palace roof is thus —
 
 348 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 a shell striking x would bring" down the roof, so 
 when the Arabs fire, one does not feel comfortable 
 as one hears the shell sighing through the air, till 
 one hears it fall ; it is at least 40 feet in height, but 
 with only two storeys. The Pasha who built it 
 (Monitoz Pasha) built it Avithout leave from the old 
 Khedive, taking funds which he had no right to ; 
 the old Khedive did not see it, and Ismail Pasha 
 Ayoub, who was a prisoner here, split on him ; he 
 was tried here, and they say was poisoned, Ismail 
 Ayoub getting his j)lace. Ismail Ayoub was sent 
 up because he did not treat one of the cast-off wives 
 of the old Khedive (whom he was forced to marry) 
 with proper respect ; so this wife got up a harem 
 intrigue, and he was exiled. 
 
 He (Ismail Ayoub) was a great scamp, whatever 
 was the cause of his exile. He belonged to Kur- 
 distan, and was originally a bugler in Said Pasha's 
 band ; and I used to teU him he was as much a 
 foreigner in this land as I was. He was a good 
 musician, and had learnt French and German. He 
 is now dead. Whilst I was here, I think he was 
 the best administrator the Soudan ever had. He 
 was the Minister of the Interior during Lord 
 Dufferin's time, and wi'ote the famous despatch 
 about the inutility of using the kourbatch. He / 
 who was famous for its use up here, and who, with 
 Cherif and Towfik, roared with laughter over the 
 affair, for Lord Dufferin in the gravest way reported 
 it to Lord Granville, who, I dare say, laughed as 
 heartily over it with Mr. Sanderson. Poor Ismail 
 Ayoub ! he was a most agreeable scoundrel ; but he
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 349 
 
 came to grief at Cairo in 1883 as Minister of 
 Finance. The bugler '''•Almas " {i. e. the diamond^ 
 telegraphed his confreres that he had killed twenty 
 Arabs to-day ! ! 
 
 December 3. — This morning Arabs fired eight 
 rounds at us, and we replied ; one of our shells 
 struck their casemate. Numbers of Arabs left 
 Mahdi's camp for the north. Arabs fired nine 
 rounds into the town at night from the south lines. 
 One shell fell into the garden of the Palace ; this 
 from the south lines. A shell from Arabs at Goba 
 fell in the garden, so it will be seen the attention 
 which is being paid to the Palace. 
 
 Twenty shells fell in town yesterday, but none 
 did any harm. 
 
 I think this is the programme, and though it is 
 of doubtfid morality, perhaps it is the shortest route 
 out of a mess. "British Expedition comes up to 
 relieve British subjects in distress, nothing else ; it 
 finds one of its subjects acting as ruler ; it takes 
 him away, and he, on going away, appoints Zubair 
 ruler, subject to approval of Towfik, Zubair having 
 been allowed to come up to Kartoum, as a private 
 individual, to look after his family." 
 
 Now who can say anything to the British Gov- 
 ernment? It has had nothing to do with the ap- 
 pointment of Zubair, or with the Government of 
 Towfik ; it came up to relieve its subjects, and 
 " Gordon is entirely responsible for the appointment 
 of Zubair ; " " even To^vfik is not responsible, for 
 Gordon did it on his own responsibility." This
 
 350 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 will be a splendid dodge ; it first clears Her Majes- 
 ty's Government of any blame, it puts the blame on 
 me, and in the storm that is caused, I shall have 
 been so effectually blackened that every one will 
 forget the — well ! we will not say it in direct words 
 (count the months), we will call it the Delay ; in 
 fact, I expect the public will rather blame the Gov- 
 ernment for having sent any Expedition at all for 
 such a style of British subject ; the Government 
 will chuckle over it all, and will preserve the fiction 
 that they have nought to do with the Soudan or 
 Egypt. 
 
 The Opposition will be perfectly wild at seeing 
 the Ministry get out of the mess, with what one may 
 call really credit, while the Anti-Slavery Society and 
 Europe at large will empty their vials of wrath on 
 me. Towfik and his pashas will wring their hands 
 ojjenly over such an act. . . . will get such kudos ! 
 For my part I shall get out of any of those wi'etched 
 honours, for the Ministry will be only too glad to 
 say, " We could not, you know, confer any honours 
 on him after such very disreputable conduct," know- 
 ing well enough I would not take them if offered ; 
 and as I am not going to England again, and shall 
 not see the papers, I shall not much mind the abuse. 
 I think it is a splendid programme. Zubair must be 
 given either X200,000 or £300,000 a year for two 
 years, replenished magazines, and stores of all sorts, 
 all the Expedition's boats and steamers, &c., &c., 
 and must be aided for two months in small expedi- 
 tions ; besides the £200,000 or £300,000 for two 
 years, he must have down on the nail £150,000 to 
 £200,000.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 351 
 
 I must clear, in disgrace, out of the country, to 
 prevent any appearance of any connivance on the 
 part of . . . in this arrangement, which he will or 
 ought officially to deplore. I do not think Zubair 
 will care for the Equator Province; he will agree 
 to give that up ; he will agree to uphold the Treaty 
 of 1877 Slave Convention, and laugh as he does so. 
 As for the Bahr Gazelle, I expect the Mahdi has it, 
 and if so, his people will move up there, when Zu- 
 bair by his politics recaptures Obeyed. 
 
 What a fearful row there will be. I know one 
 man who will write: "Better, my dear Gordon, FAR 
 better ! to have died, than have so very far departed 
 from the right path ; nothing, no nothing can ex- 
 plain it away. A happy Christmas to you." . . . 
 " This news from the Soudan is very satisfactory ; 
 I call it a great triumph, for it not only delivers 
 us out of a dilemma, but it effectually settles our 
 friends, and vitiates anything he'^ may say as to 
 the Delay." Any military operations undertaken 
 after the proclamation of Zubair will be put down 
 " as measures necessary to be undertaken to secure 
 the return, unmolested, of the expeditionary force." 
 5 P. M. Artillery duel going on between our two 
 guns and the Arab gun ; our practice is very bad. 
 The shells the Arabs fire from their Krupp gun 
 reach the Palace Garden, but the report of their 
 gun is not to be heard. The Arab shells from Goba 
 fall just about 200 yards short of the Palace, but 
 in its line ; there is just the second of suspense (after 
 seeing them fire), while one hears the soft sighing 
 "^ L e. General Gordon. — Ed.
 
 352 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 of their shells coming nearer and nearer, till they 
 strike. 7 P. M. Another battle ! (the third to-day). 
 The Arabs came down to the river and fired on the 
 Palace ; we could not stand that. 7.10 p. m. Battle 
 over; we are as we were, minus some cartridges. 
 7.20 P. M. Battle begim again, because the buglers 
 played " Salaam Effendina," the Arabs wasting am- 
 munition. 8 P. M. The Arabs are firing from the 
 south at the Krupps on the Palace ; they (/. e. the 
 Arabs) are at least 4,000 yards distant ; one hears 
 the shells burst, but not the report of their gun ; 
 they reached the river close to the Palace. 
 
 Decemher 4. — Omdurman Fort all right. They 
 had a man wounded yesterday. There was a small 
 battle at Bourre this morning. The Arabs at Goba 
 are quiet after the exertions of yesterday. Fir- 
 ing was heard (on north) towards Shoboloha last 
 night. Report in town says the steamers are near 
 there. 
 
 Should the Zubair arrangement be accepted, then 
 comes the question of the military action during two 
 months, at end of which time the expeditionary force 
 should be wending its way back. The driving away 
 of the Arabs from the Dem at the north of the Pal- 
 ace will be immediate on the arrival of the troops ; 
 the Arabs will then hold on to El foun and to Gi- 
 raffe. They will vacate the vicinity of Omdurman 
 Fort ; 1,000 men will deal with El foun and Giraffe, 
 supported by our tag-rag. First Giraffe, then El 
 foun ; but at the same time as this takes place, the 
 retreat of Arabs ought to be cut off at Gitana from
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 353 
 
 Kordofan by the steamers and another 1,000 men ; 
 the Mahdi will return to Schatt, and the town will 
 be free, and all the troops defending the lines wiU 
 be available. Then comes the question of going 
 inland and attacking the family of the Sheikh el 
 Obeyed's son, two and a half hours inland, or else 
 going on and attacking Mesalamieh. I think Sheikh 
 el Obeyed's family will give in as soon as the Arabs 
 are driven from El foun (an affair of an hour, D. 
 F.). I tried to entice the Arabs at Goba into a 
 fight this evening, but they would not be drawn, and 
 only replied by two shells, which fell in the river. 
 We played on them with the mitrailleuse, and made 
 them move their gun, and then they fired two more 
 shells, one of which fell near the Palace in the river. 
 With a good mitrailleuse, and a sharp operator, with 
 telescope sight., no gun could be served with impu- 
 nity at 2,000 yards range, though it could be served 
 against artillery fire., for at that range there is 
 plenty of time to dodge under cover after seeing the 
 flash ere the shell arrives. The band, principally 
 of small boys, the men being on the lines, went on to 
 the roof of the Palace to play (they always come on 
 the eve of their Sabbath, the Friday). The Arabs 
 heard them, and fired a volley at them ; they, fu- 
 rious, threw down their instruments, and flew to 
 arms, and a regular fusillade went on for some mo- 
 ments, the other places supporting the fire. The 
 buglers are bugling now " Come to us, come to us," 
 to the Arabs. (The Egyptian Government have 
 the French calls, and can converse by bugle ; I do 
 not think we have.) Last night a renegade Dervish
 
 354 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 bugler in the Arab ranks replied, '' Come to us, come 
 to us." 
 
 Decemher 5. — Small church parades. Three car- 
 avans of some size came in from the north to Ma- 
 homet Achmet's camp this morning. Two deser- 
 ters came in from the Arabs. Fort at Omdurraan 
 all right. In store 737 ardebs of dhoora, 121,300 
 okes of biscuit. 
 
 We are going to make an attempt to relieve Om- 
 durman Fort (really things are looking very black). 
 The men who came in say the Mahdi is short of am- 
 munition. The Arabs fired three shells at the Palace 
 this afternoon, which fell in the river. A soldier 
 deserted to-day to the Arabs. 5 P. m. The Arabs 
 fired two shells at the Palace, which fell into the 
 water (if they only knew ! that if they sank the trail 
 they would touch us up ! their line is quite correct). 
 6.30 p. M. Since 3 p. m. we have been firing on them, 
 and they on us, only wasting ammunition, for though 
 our bullets reach them, few of theirs reach us. Ac- 
 cording to the men who came in from the Arabs, it 
 is the pet detachment of the Mahdi who are opposite 
 the Palace ; they do not number more than one 
 hundred, and are principally our Soudan soldiers. 
 I have almost given up all idea of saving the town ; 
 it is a last resource, this attempt we make to open 
 the route to the Omdurman Fort. 
 
 Decemher 6. — (Certainly every fortified place 
 ought to be provided with a hundred good tele- 
 scopes.) The stccimers went down and fired on the
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 355 
 
 Arabs at Omdurman. We have <£150 in cash in the 
 treasury. In the affair to-day we had three killed 
 and thirty-six wounded in the steamers, and Ferratch 
 Ullah Bey reports he had five wounded at Omdur- 
 man Fort. The Arabs came down in good force, and 
 must have lost. 
 
 I have given up all idea of landing at Omdurman ; 
 we have not the force to do it. The Arabs fired 
 forty-five rounds from their guns at Mogrim and the 
 steamers. We had two men wounded at Mogrim, 
 and one killed. This is most distressing to have 
 these poor fellows wounded and killed. To-morrow 
 it will be 270 days 9 months that we have endured 
 one continuous misery and anxiety. The Greeks 
 who were at Mogrim say at least 300 or 400 Arabs 
 were killed and wounded in to-day's engagement. 
 The Ismailia was struck by four, and the Bordeen 
 by two shells, but not in vital parts. I visited the 
 steamers, and had weariness of heart at hearing the 
 complaint of the men as to the robbery of their ra- 
 tions by the officers. 
 
 Decemher 7. — The 270th day of our imprison- 
 ment. The Arabs fired from their guns at Goba 8 
 shells, one of which fell in the town near Palace, 
 but did no harm. Omdurman reports the fort all 
 right, one more man wounded there. A great force 
 of Arabs strayed down near Omdurman last night, 
 and left at dawn. The cock turkey has killed one 
 of his companions, reason not known. (Supposed 
 to be correspondence with Mahdi, or some harem in- 
 fidelity.) Report in town that Berber surrendered,
 
 356 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 " sans coup ferir^" I hope so. We are going to 
 send the steamers down again to attack the Arabs 
 at Omdurman at noon to-morrow. The Arabs fired 
 nine shells at Bourr6, and begun again their prac- 
 tice on the Palace, firing five shells, one of which 
 came close to the roof of the Palace. 
 
 A soldier escaped from the Arabs and came in ; 
 he says the Expeditionary Force has captured Ber- 
 ber. Two soldiers deserted to the Arabs to-day! 
 The Arabs at Goba fired three shells this evening at 
 the Palace ; two fell close to it, one fell in the water. 
 One shell from the Arabs at Bourr6 fell in the hos- 
 pital. One of the shells of the Arabs this evening- 
 struck the building near the Palace, and stuck in 
 the wall, about 9 feet from the ground. A man 
 came in from the Arabs, who says the Expedition- 
 ary Force is approaching. I saw a body of horse- 
 men going north to-day, very fast, from El foun. 
 In the Ismailia were eighty bullet holes on the 
 water line of her hull ; in the Bordeen there were 
 seventy-five bullet holes, ditto in the last engage- 
 ment 1 1 ! These holes were stopped by screws 
 made for the purpose. As for the bullet marks else- 
 where they are not to be counted. 
 
 My belief is that the Mahdi business will be the 
 end of slavery in the Soudan. The Arabs have in- 
 variably put their slaves in the front and armed 
 them; and the slaves have seen that they were 
 plucky, while their masters shirked : is it likely that 
 those slaves will ever yield obedience to those mas- 
 ters as heretofore ?
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 357 
 
 December 8. — The Arabs this morning fired 
 twelve rounds from guns at Bourre, and five rounds 
 at the North Fort and Palace. Two men came in 
 from the Arabs ; they say no Arabs have gone down 
 towards Berber ; that the report in the Arab camp 
 was that Berber was captured ; this report was four 
 days old. 10 A. m. The steamers are going down 
 to attack. Omdurman Fort reports '■''All riglitr 
 10.30 A. M. The steamers are engaged ; the Arabs 
 have two nasty wasp batteries with regular em- 
 brasures, quite d V Europe. (Query, Slatin Bey's 
 design.) Though we have protected the steam- 
 chests of the steamers, one cannot help being very 
 anxious. The Arabs at Goba are silent. An- 
 other soldier from the Arabs came in, and states 
 report of advance of tlie Expeditionary Force, who 
 are coming by land. Every time I hear the guns 
 fire I have a twitch at the heart of gnawing anxiety 
 for my penny steamers. 11.30 a. m. The battle is 
 over, and my penny boats are safe, thank God ! (not 
 in words only, but from my heart). We had two 
 wounded on board the Bordeei^ none on board the 
 Ismailia. We are meditating an attack with 500 
 men on the 50 Arabs, who with their gun are at 
 Goba. The Bordeen was struck by four shells, the 
 Ismailia by two shells, one of which destroyed a 
 cabin : they had not much musketry fire, but the 
 Arabs fired a great number of rounds ; they had six 
 guns playing on the steamers. At noon Arabs fired 
 five shells at Bourr^. In the evening they fired 
 three shells against the Palace from Goba which fell 
 in the town. Had we not cased the steam-chest of
 
 858 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 the Ismailia with wood she would have had her 
 boiler blown up by one of the shells. The Arab 
 rifle force of Goba is completely innocuous ; we do 
 not even hear their bullets, yet our bullets reach 
 them, for they cannot stay in the open, and we can 
 see the dust the bullets throw up that we fire. 
 Wadji Barra, an Ameer of the Mahdi, on the north 
 side, sent me a letter (in Appendix A, B) asking me 
 to surrender, and saying it is all lies about the Ex- 
 pedition ; the Mahdi is evidently (like H. M. G.) 
 oifended with my curt answer to his last, and so his 
 holiness will not write direct. Whenever we have 
 what we call a victory we fire some fireworks at the 
 main posts of our lines, which infuriates the Arabs, 
 and puzzles them as to the reason. They were very 
 angry to-night, and came down in a good number, 
 and fired on the Palace several volleys. I ordered 
 up the three buglers, who put them to flight. The 
 letter Wadji Barra sent me was sent by a woman 
 who came to the North Fort. I telegraphed the 
 officer, " Open the letter and tell uje contents." He 
 did so, and I answered, " Send the woman back to 
 the Ameer and tell him to go, &c." I expect this 
 irritated the Ameer, who ordered the advance of 
 his men, and consequent expenditure of his am- 
 munition. 
 
 Decemher 9. — A party of sixty men, with ammu- 
 nition, camels, and some horsemen, left the Dem 
 of the Mahdi, and went north this morning. The 
 Arabs on the right bank of the White Nile came over 
 to the left bank of the Blue Nile, and went through
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 359 
 
 some antics, so we suppose something is up. A man 
 was woimded yesterday at Omdurman, which fort 
 reports all right. Letter sent by Wadji Barra in 
 Appendix A, B. The Arabs fired yesterday not 
 rifled shell, but round shell, which they must have 
 got at Obeyed, which shows they are out of ammu- 
 nition of the regulation sort. What called forth 
 the letter from Wadji Barra (Appendix A, B.) was 
 a paper I issued (Appendix C, D.) to the town, 
 when I received Towfik's telegram saying he would 
 hold the Soudan, and which I gave to a man to send 
 to the Arabs. If Lord Palmerston was alive (or 
 Forster was Premier) he would never leave the 
 Soudan, without proclaiming the emancipation of 
 the slaves. On 18th December, 1862, Lincoln pro- 
 claimed abolition of slavery in the United States ; 
 this would be a good day to issue such a proclamation 
 in the Soudan. Wadji Barra's letter calls me Pasha 
 of Kartoum, and says I have been deaf to all their 
 entreaties. Stewart left this place three months 
 ago ! to-day. A man was wounded by the Arab fire 
 at Bourre : they fired twelve rounds from these guns 
 at the fort. I feel sure that the cause of the Mahdi's 
 coming here is that he got hold of Herbin's ' French 
 Consul's ' journal, written in a hostile critical spirit, 
 and thinking it true, he advanced from Schatt. I 
 expect Hansall, the Austrian Consul, also wi-ote in 
 the style of Lamentations, for he also sent down a 
 journal by the Ahhas. It is remarkable that the 
 very effort which I made to obtain the ear of Europe 
 should have thus recoiled on us. I have for the 
 present abandoned the attack on the Arabs at Goba,
 
 360 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 as Omdurman is more important, and as I expect 
 the Arabs there have taken away their gun ; it has 
 not (up to 2 p. M.) fired to-day. I would like to 
 ask the Mahdi — allowing 2^fo formd that he is the 
 Mahdi — what will be his idtimate work ? Certainly 
 his present work is not exhilarating, firing on his 
 fellow-creatures night and day. The siege of Sevas- 
 topol lasted 326 days. We are at our 271st day. 
 In their case they had always their communication 
 open, and they dealt with an enemy who would rec- 
 ognise the rights of war; whereas we are not so 
 placed. They, the Russians, were united, and had 
 no civil population to deal with ; yet I cannot say I 
 think we are over great heroes (the fact is, that, if 
 one analyses human glory, it is composed of nine- 
 tenths twaddle, perhaps ninety-nine hundreths twad- 
 dle). We are only short of the duration of siege 
 of Sevastopol 57 days, and we have had no re- 
 s^nte, like the Russians had, during the winter 
 of 1854-55 ; and neither Nicholas nor Alexander 
 speculated on (well, we will not say what, but we will 
 put it) " counting the months." Of course it will 
 be looked on as very absurd to compare the two 
 blockades, that of Sevastopol and Kartoum; but if 
 properly weighed, one was just as good as the other. 
 The Russians had money, we had none ; they had 
 skilled officers, we had none ; they had no civil 
 population, we had forty thousand ; they had their 
 route open and had news, we had neither. 
 
 December 10. — A slave came in to-day, he had 
 been with Slatin. He says Slatin is still in chains,
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 361 
 
 that there are two insurrections in Kordofan, and 
 rumour is rife that the Expeditionary Force is near. 
 Fort Omdurman is all right. The slave says the 
 Arabs have not much ammunition. The Arabs fired 
 thirty-one rounds at Bourre to-day, and wounded 
 four men (one an officer, a Major Soulleiman Effi, 
 fatally). The Arabs have been firing stones to-day. 
 Goba is quiet ; they did not fire their gun to-day, or 
 yesterday. I expect it has gone down to the river- 
 bank. The slave who came in says the Mahdi's 
 return to Kordofan is cut off by the insurrection in 
 his rear ; so we and he are like two rats in a box. 
 (I wish he was out of the hox /) I have ordered 
 the two steamers to stay up at Bourre, towards which 
 place the Arabs seem to be directing an unpleasant 
 degree of attention. (Truly I am worn to a shadow 
 with the food question ; it is one continual demand.) 
 Five men deserted to-day. The Arabs shape the 
 stones they fire like to the shells of their guns ; 
 they will soon spoil the rifling of their guns if they 
 continue this. 
 
 December 11. — The Arabs fired their gun from 
 Goba three times ; one shell fell into the water be- 
 fore the Palace, two passed over it. I put down 
 more mines at Bourr^. I have given the whole gar- 
 rison an extra month's pay in addition to the three 
 months' they had before received ; I will not (Z). 
 F.) hesitate to give them £100,000, if I think it will 
 keep the town. 
 
 Three soldiers came in from the Arabs who report 
 advance of the Expedition towards Berber. The
 
 362 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 Arabs fired fourteen rounds from their guns at 
 Bourr^. The officers say that there is a European 
 directing the Arab guns there. (I wonder if it is 
 that Frenchman who came from Dongola, and who, 
 I thought, might have been Renan.) Sennaar is 
 holding out .and in great force (so say the three sol- 
 diers), so is Kassala. The Dem of the Mahdi is 
 altered in appearance. They say he has sent off 
 the families of his adherents into the interior. 
 
 3.30 p. M. — The Arabs fired three shells at the 
 Palace from Goba ; two went into the water, one 
 passed over the Palace. This always irritates me, 
 for it is so personal, and from one's own soldiers 
 too ! It is not very pleasant also to feel at any 
 moment you may have a shell in your room, for the 
 creatures fire at all hours. The steamers fired on 
 the Arabs at Bourr^ this morning, and one of the 
 Arab shells struck one steamer, and another struck 
 a santal which we have there to defend the flank ; 
 but neither did any harm. Two soldiers deserted to 
 the Arabs to-day ; these men are generally those 
 who liave before been with the Arabs, and had de- 
 serted to us. The Arabs fired another shell at the 
 Palace this evening, which burst in the air. 
 
 December 12. — Small Church Parade. I sin- 
 cerely hope this will be the last we shall have to wit- 
 ness. AVe have in hand 1,796,000 rounds, Reming- 
 tons' ammunition, 540 rounds Krupp ; 6,000 rounds 
 mountain gun ammunition ; £140 in specie ; ,£18,000 
 in paper in treasury ! ! £60,000 in town in paper. 
 110,000 okas of biscuits j 700 ardebs of dhoora.
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 363 
 
 This mornmg I was told a long story of report con- 
 cerning the expeditionary force being at El Darner, 
 near the Atbara river ; of how Berber had surren- 
 dered, &c. On tracing it, I found it was a fib put 
 in circulation by one of the chief Ulemas, to encour- 
 age the people. 
 
 3.30 p. M. The Arabs fired two shells at the 
 Palace ; one burst iu the air, the other fell in the 
 water in a direct line with the window I was sitting 
 at, distant about a hundred yards. 
 
 3.40 p. M. They fired another shell, which fell 
 only fifty yards short of the Palace ; another burst 
 in the air. I have sent the buglers up to stop this 
 target practice. All these shells are in good line 
 for the west wing, in which the Arabs know I stop. 
 They fired seven shells in all in this affair; though 
 the Arabs have fired over two thousand shells at us, 
 I do not think we have lost by artillery fire more 
 than three men. 
 
 December 13. — The steamers went up and at- 
 tacked the Arabs at Bourre (certainly this day-after- 
 day delay has a most disheartening effect on every 
 one. To-day is the 276th day of our anxiety). The 
 Arabs appear, by all accounts, to have suffered to- 
 day heavily at Bourre. We had none wounded by 
 the Arabs ; but one man, by the discharge of a bad 
 cartridge, got a cut in neck : this was owing to the 
 same cause as nearly blew out my eyes the other 
 day. We are going to send down the Bordeen the 
 day after to-morrow, and with her I shall send this 
 journal. If some effort is not made before ten
 
 864 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 days' time the town will fall. It is inexplicable, 
 this delay. If the Expeditionary Forces have reached 
 the river and met my steamers, one hundred men 
 are all that we require, just to show themselves. 
 
 I send this journal, for I have little hopes of sav- 
 ing it if the town falls. I put in (Appendix E. F.), 
 the sort of arrangement I would make with Zubair 
 Pasha for the future government of the Soudan. 
 Ferratch Pasha is really showing an amount of vig- 
 our I did not give him credit for. Even if the town 
 falls under the nose of the Expeditionary Force, it 
 will not, in my opinion, justify the abandonment of 
 Sennaar and Kassala, or of the Equatorial Province, 
 by Her Majesty's Government. All that is abso- 
 lutely necessary is, for fifty of the Expeditionary 
 Force to get on board a steamer and come up to 
 Halfeyeh, and thus let their presence be felt ; this 
 is not asking much, but it must happen at once ; or 
 it will (as usual) be too late. A soldier deserted to 
 the Arabs to-day from the North Fort. The buglers 
 on the roof, being short of stature, are put on boxes 
 to enable them to fire over the parapet ; one with 
 the recoil of rifle was knocked right over, and 
 caused considerable excitement. We thought he was 
 killed, by the noise he made in his fall. The Arabs 
 fired their Krupps continually into town from the 
 south front, but no one takes any notice of it. The 
 Arabs at Goba only fired one shell at the Palace 
 to-day, which burst in the air. ^ 
 
 December 14th. — Arabs fired two shells at the 
 Palace this morning ; 546 ardebs dhoora ! in store ;
 
 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNAL. 365 
 
 also 83,625 okes of biscuit! 10.30 a. m. The steamers 
 are down at Omdurman, engaging the Arabs, con- 
 sequently I am on tenterhooks, 1 11.80 a.m. Steam- 
 ers returned ; the Bordeen was struck by a shell in 
 her battery ; we had only one man wounded. We 
 are going to send down the Bordeen to-morrow with 
 this journal. If I was in command of the two 
 hundred men of the Expeditionary Force, which are 
 all that are necessary for the movement, I should 
 stop just below Halfeyeh, and attack the Arabs at 
 that place before I came on here to Kartoum. I 
 should then communicate with the North Fort, and 
 act according to circumstances. Now mark this, 
 if the Expeditionary Force, and I ask for no more 
 than two hundred men, does not come in ten days, 
 the toxon may fall ; and I have done my best for 
 the honour of our country. Good bye. 
 
 C. G. Gordon. 
 
 You send me no information, though you have 
 lots of money. C. G. G.
 
 APPENDICES REFERRED TO IN THE 
 JOURNALS.
 
 APPENDICES TO BOOK I. 
 
 APPENDIX A. 
 
 Letter to General Gordon from Abd el Kader Ibrahim. 
 
 In the name of God, the Merciful and Compassionate, bless- 
 ing be on our lord Mohammed, and peace. 
 
 From the servant of his Lord — the Fal^eer (humble one) Abd el Kader 
 Ibrahim, Kadi (Judge) of Kalakla, to his Excellency Gordon Pasha, 
 Governor General of the Soudan. 
 
 Now tliis is what we have to state to your Excellency : Your 
 benevolence and compassion towards all are well known, and 
 your special regard towards us is most particularly known to 
 us, and confirmed by deeds since the beginning of your pres- 
 ence in the Soudan both the first and this second time. 
 
 That which you have declared in proclamation emanating 
 from you on your arrival in the Soudan this time is known to 
 us both publicly and privately. 
 
 But the first conviction in the true mission of this present 
 Imam, the Mahdi (the expected one, on whom be peace) from 
 the very beginning (first day) of his appearance, forbids us to 
 accept your letters or to return to you. For we know about 
 him what the Ulema (wise men), who have wandered from 
 the right way, do not know. And as the mission of this Imam, 
 the Mahdi (the expected one, on whom be peace) is predicted 
 (confirmed) for us and for you in the ancient books, we cannot 
 incline to (receive) your many kindnesses and your regard to 
 us (as shown) by your favours and your bounties, or forsake 
 the command of the glorious and Most High God and of his 
 prophet Mohammed, on whom be peace. We had previously 
 to this frequently communicated with your Highness. And 
 on each occasion we explained sufficiently for him who has a 
 heart (to understand) ; and in all our communications we made 
 clear unto you the way of peace and salvation. But you have 
 not accepted it ; nor have you given your mind to the impor- 
 tant object of our call unto you — which is the means of your
 
 370 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNALS. 
 
 material and moral salvation from the dangers of this world 
 and the next, (and that both) for yourself and for the people 
 of the city — because many of them are our friends and our 
 relations. 
 
 But you have rejected what we have demonstrated to you 
 again and again. You have listened to the Ulema whom this 
 world has deceived by its glittering mirage, making them for- 
 get both their own souls and the Moslems, for the sake of con- 
 temptible riches of this life. 
 
 Yet their enmity, and giving of the lie, to the Imam, the 
 Mahdi (the expected one, on whom be peace), are predicted in 
 the ancient books, and they themselves are aware of this. But 
 if they ignore this let them consider the preface of the book, 
 "Keshef el Ghuma an Jamia el Nraa," by Shakrani.* 
 
 But you rely upon their sayings and listen to their words, 
 notwithstanding what has been proved and made known to 
 you and to all intelligent people of the calamities and destruc- 
 tion that have befallen the country. This is the very point 
 (acme) of your error, and of your blindness as to what is 
 right. 
 
 But because we have not ceased to compassionate you and 
 the people of the city ; and because the supreme Emir Abder- 
 rahnian el Najoomie, and the Emir Abdallah en Noor and the 
 other emirs with him, have come with a very great host of 
 troops of all the various tribes which have submitted to the 
 Imam, on whom be peace. 
 
 (And because) You are utterly heedless as to (the safety 
 of) yourself and the people of the city, in our exceeding com- 
 passion we have written this to you in return for your past 
 regard and favour to us. And we beseech God that it may be 
 accepted (by you). 
 
 Besides all this, the noble Imam himself has arrived at 
 Schatt, and with him innumerable hosts, end he -will shortly 
 come with his army to the city. 
 
 It is therefore our duty to inform you of this in the hope 
 that you will listen to us, and disregard the words of the se- 
 ditious ; and that you will submit to the Imam, the Mahdi, 
 because, beyond all doubt he is the Imam, the INIahdi (the ex- 
 pected one, on whom be peace). And all the Governments 
 (Powers) will be destroyed by his hand ; for he is supported 
 and made victorious by the power of God. Be not misled by 
 that which happened in the Deserts of Joreef and in the 
 Desert of the East (Deem). 
 
 For God made the prophet Mahomed victorious, and humil- 
 iated all his enemies after his defeat in the raid on Badr and 
 
 * Title of Book, The Dissipation of Gloom from all {Mohammedan) 
 Peoples.
 
 APPENDICES. 371 
 
 on Ohod, both (which are) well known. And God gave him 
 unbroken victory (success after that) as much as he wished 
 and desired. All (the defeat) which has occurred in the two 
 deserts before-named is worth nothing (unimportant). 
 
 It does not equal (counterbalance) a tenth of the tenth of 
 those slaughtered in the day of the battle of Shaikh el Abeed, 
 as is known to you and the jjeople of the city. 
 
 This is our counsel to you, and please God you and the peo- 
 ple of the city may accept it. 
 
 And know, O Excellency Gordon, that we have communi- 
 cated with his Highness the Mahdi on your behalf ; and his 
 favourable answer has come, (which is) of a nature to please 
 you and give you confidence, provided that you submit and 
 obey. 
 
 And this is the communication (of the Mahdi) sent to you 
 by the two Moslem envoys, together with the dervishes, our 
 allies, who now come to you. 
 
 (Signed) Ibrahim Abd el Kader. 
 
 Dated 18 Zn'l Kadi, 1301. 
 9th Sept., 1884. 
 
 Postscript. — With have sent this reply to your Excellency 
 with our allies the dervishes, dispatched from the Lord of all, 
 the Mahdi (the expected one, on whom be peace), and with 
 the two Moslems, Mahomed Yusuf and George Calamatiano. 
 And because they were refused at the gates, we now send it 
 back to you with our sou Suleiman, specially sent by us, who 
 has a letter from the headquarters of the Imam requesting 
 your speedy reply to him. 
 
 All the emirs here present have given assurance of safe 
 conduct, in the name of God and of his prophet, to whomso- 
 ever you may send for needful negotiations. And if it is 
 agreeable to your Excellency, send for our son and for our 
 friend George Calamatiano for complete understanding be- 
 tween us and you, as he is both mtelligent and friendly in this 
 matter. 
 
 And it appears from your letter that (you consider us) in- 
 telligent and understanding ; therefore you should have be- 
 lieved our report about this Imam, that there might be a fruit 
 (benefit) derived for all. But we believe that your opinion of 
 us for sense was inconsistent. 
 
 Now God is the Director and Guide into truth. 
 
 (Signed) Ibrahim Abd el Kader. 
 Written the same date.
 
 372 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNALS. 
 
 APPENDIX Ai. 
 General Gordon's reply to [Ibrahim] Abd el Kader. 
 
 We have received your answer and we have taken note of 
 all you have said. 
 
 With regard to the spies of whom you informed us that 
 they were entrusted with delivery of the replies — when 
 (they) these special messengers arrived at the ramparts, we 
 did them no harm. 
 
 But when we sent a messenger with our answers you fired 
 with ball upon the slave when he placed the stick upon the 
 ground. 
 
 We received the messenger who came to us from you, and 
 he saw that we were well. 
 
 It would be better that the messengers whom you send to 
 us should be people of sense, and who know how to behave. 
 As to the Greek whom it is your intention to send to us — the 
 person who has forsaken our religion and adopted another re- 
 ligion — we do not wish to receive him, just as you would not 
 wish to receive a Moslem who had adopted the Christian re- 
 ligion. 
 
 A letter has been sent us by this person aforesaid. It shows 
 us that he has important information which concerns the 
 Europeans. But we know that there are many like this fellow, 
 who have information that concerns the son of Najoomi. 
 
 But perhaps the information about the Europeans of which 
 he has told us is about the bringing of the European army to 
 fight the son of AVeld el Najoomeh after thirty days — for we 
 have now a precious opportunity. 
 
 I know that you have been invested with a veil and robes 
 of honour, and you say that Mohammed Achmed is the Mahdi 
 — and I know that there is among you a man of mature age 
 who has spent his life, from his youth up, in Islam — who 
 would consent to the ruin of the country. 
 
 Considering that I cannot bear the sight of that renegade 
 traitor, it is preferable that you should send us a respectable 
 pious man, who may be depended on, to receive 10,000 guineas 
 for the ransom of the Europeans who are to be found there, 
 and we will send them by his hand ; and if you say that Mo- 
 hammed Achmed is the Mahdi, why does he remain in the 
 White (Nile)?— he ought (if he is the Mahdi) to take the 
 whole country. 
 
 [The copy above translated is extremely illegible — evi- 
 dently written in haste — by an unaccustomed scribe ; the 
 handwriting is bad and in Turkish style. 
 
 We have surmised that General Gordon employed the writer
 
 APPENDICES. 373 
 
 as being trustworthy, for among the inhabitants of K.artoum it 
 must have been possible to find one who could wi-ite better. 
 
 George Calamatiauo is evidently the renegade whom the 
 General refuses to admit to his presence.] 
 
 APPENDIX A2. 
 
 Letter to General Gordon from Abderrahhman en Najoomi and 
 Abdallah en Noor. 
 
 In the name of God, the Merciful and Compassionate, bless- 
 ing be on our lord Mahomed and peace. 
 
 From the slaves of their lord, Abderrahhman en Najoomi 
 and Abdallah en Noor, lieutenants of the Mahdi (the expected 
 one, on whom be peace), to Gordon Pasha. May God direct 
 him to the truth. 
 
 What we state to thee is : First, that thou art a stranger in 
 the country and to this government, and thou art intelligent 
 and well informed. 
 
 What God wishes to reveal neither men nor demons can 
 keep secret ; and even if they seem to do so God will accom- 
 plish His design in spite of the infidels. At thy first arrival 
 at Kartoum the Imam, &c. (here follow the customary phrases 
 of respect), wrote to thee to surrender to God and his prophet, 
 and informed thee of the truth, in which there is no lie, and 
 assured thee that after that, if thou didst not submit to the 
 command of God and his prophet, the army of God will come 
 to thee and will destroy that in which thou (hast aspired) 
 to share with God thy Creator (in claiming) rule over His 
 (faithful) servants, while the earth belongs to God, and He 
 causes whom He will of his righteous servants to inherit it. 
 
 And, nevertheless, thou hast sent to his Highness a reply 
 different from that desired, and the substance of it (is) thy 
 refusal to obey and submit to what he commanded thee to do. 
 Yet in his desire for thy good he waited and delayed a space 
 of time, expecting that thy sense (reason) would return unto 
 thee, and that thou wouldst consider thy ways, nor rely upon 
 this world and its illusions nor on its transitory possessions 
 (wealth). 
 
 Time has now been prolonged, and he has become aware of 
 thy firm resolve not to obey and submit. He has now ap- 
 pointed us, the lieutenants above named, and he has supplied 
 us with trusty men from among his companions — men who 
 love death as ye love life, and who count, in fighting you, on 
 the great reward. Death is dearer to them than their wives 
 or the very best of their possessions.
 
 374 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNALS. 
 
 One man of them in battle is better than a thousand of you. 
 He has provided us with weapons of war — in which thou 
 thinkest there is victory — with Krupp cannon, with mountain 
 guns for battle, in which thou shalt taste of evil if thou turn 
 aside from the way of God. 
 
 The desire of the Mahdi (&c.) is for thy good. He did not 
 stop at the previous correspondence, but sent you his messen- 
 gers with his letter, and he especially sent two Europeans to 
 counsel thee and make the truth known to thee ; and this out 
 of mercy and compassion to thee and those with thee (to save 
 thee) from destruction in this world and from the evil of tor- 
 ment in the next. Notwithstanding all this thou hast remained 
 stubborn, and hast turned thy back to counsel in thy greed for 
 transitory power, from which thou must soon be removed (by 
 death), either willingly or unwillingly (either peaceable or 
 by violent), and thou hast replied to the Lord of all (on whom 
 be peace) refusing to submit, arguing by quotations from the 
 Koran and other prophecies dictated by thy scribes and thy 
 Ulema, and thou reliest on their proofs with which thou art 
 not acquainted. But the fulfilment of those passages is to be 
 found in the Mahdi (on whom be peace) and his honourable 
 companions. 
 
 And know, O honourable Pasha, and all eri-ing Ulema who 
 are with thee — for they do know the truth but do not counsel 
 thee (aright), because they love the grandeur and wealth which 
 they have obtained from thee by deceit and sedition. 
 
 And listen — if thine understanding be enlightened — to our 
 advice and to what El Jaber our brother, formerly called 
 George Calamatino, will advise thee, so that if thou dost obey 
 and submit to the command of God and His prophet thou shalt 
 save thyself, and obtain the privilege of saving those who are 
 with thee. 
 
 Otherwise do not doubt but that those and those with thee 
 will 'be destroyed within two days, because the lord of all will, 
 please God, come here, and on his arrival — should he still find 
 thee in rebellion — ye will be destroyed. 
 
 Awaiting your decision by bearer, 
 
 (Signed). 
 Dated 21 Zu'l Kadi, 1-301. 
 12th Sept., 1884. 
 
 Postscript. — We also inform thee, O honourable Pasha, that 
 so far the Ulema who are with thee, and on whose sayings 
 thou dependest, all their children and relations are with the 
 Mahdi, and as soon as distress comes to them they will leave 
 thee alone. Outwardly they are bodily with thee ; but in- 
 wardly their hearts are with us. The news (information) of 
 the city and of thee is constantly supplied to us by the people
 
 APPENDICES. 375 
 
 of the city. Do not let the Ulema, the merchants and the ser- 
 vants, deceive thee, for when thou shalt fall into the grasp (of 
 the Mahdi) they will not help thee nor protect thee. 
 Listen to our counsel with an attentive ear. 
 
 (Signed) Abderrahhman en Najoomi. 
 Abdallah en Noor. 
 Same date. 
 
 [This letter is more peremptory in tone, and lacks the 
 proper titles of respect given in the former one to General 
 Gordon.] 
 
 From General Gordon. (Reply to his honour the Sheikh Abder- 
 rahhman en Najoomi.) 
 
 Your letter sent hy Mr. George Calamatiuo, who is called 
 El Jaber, has reached us. That which you have made known 
 in it is understood. It is true that this is not my country, and 
 I am a stranger in it, but I am deputed as Governor-General 
 here by the two great Governments, and must therefore direct 
 its affairs as becomes my friendship and compassion for the 
 Moslems. 
 
 If there be a man who desires to become a dervish we do 
 not hinder him. With regard to the Ulema, you state that 
 they are all liars, and that their words are worthless. But 
 they have said nothing but what they find declared in the 
 books ; nay, all the Ulema of Islam are jjlain on the subject. 
 
 They do not wish to sleep on the (bare) ground, or to be 
 dressed like dervishes, or to change the clothing to which they 
 have been accustomed from the beginning of the Moslem re- 
 ligion. 
 
 We have never sent answers to His Honour Mahomed Ach- 
 med, or to any others, at dictation of scribe or any of the 
 Ulema, but by help of the Arabic and English lexicon in our 
 possession, dictating them (myself) word by word ; and if you 
 do not believe this send us an eminent man, of good sense, 
 to listen to my words (and hear), whether they are my own 
 or not. 
 
 In proof (of what I say) I have received three dervishes 
 from Mahomed Achmed. They wore the patched garments 
 (of a dervish), and they were very talkative in Arabic, and I 
 refused the garment (of a dervish which had been sent by 
 them). Was that my own doing, or that of any one else ? 
 
 But as to the cannons and the guns which ye want to fight 
 us with, we have still many like them. 
 
 We have seen from the letters we receive that the Mahdi 
 destroys people without cannons and guns, which is true. 
 
 As to George, the Greek afore-named, we do not see any 
 advantage in a visit from him.
 
 376 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNALS. 
 
 With regard to the people and the Ulenia, of whom you say 
 that outwardly their bodies are with us, but that their hearts 
 are with you, and that in the day of battle they will desert us 
 and flee to you, be it known unto you that we are not keeping 
 them here, nor preventing them from going to you. 
 
 Their going, or not going, are both alike (to us). Why do 
 they not go ? 
 
 (Signed) Gordon Pasha. 
 
 Date, 23 Zu'l Kader. 
 15th Sept., 1884. 
 
 APPENDIX B. 
 
 Letter from George Calamantino. 
 
 Kartoum, 10th September, 1884. 
 Mr. N. Leontides and B. Georgopulo. 
 Accept our salutes. 
 
 I beg (beseech) you on behalf of myself and that of 
 the other fellow-countrymen of mine, of Kordofan and Dar- 
 four, to try and induce by any means Mr. Gordon for me to 
 be permitted to see him, as it is of great need and of good to 
 yourselves and of the Government my entering Kartoum ; and 
 if Mr. Gordon is not satisfied (with the news I propose to com- 
 municate to him), let him imprison me and prevent me going 
 out again. If he permits my entering, do send me a European 
 suit (of clothes), but if he does not, then send out a Greek to 
 meet me ; there is no fear whatever of his doing so, and he 
 may go back at once. I am waiting for a reply close to the 
 entrenchments. 
 
 Your friend, 
 
 George Calamantino. 
 
 His Excellency Gordon Pasha, 
 
 I beg you to give me permission to enter into Kartoum, 
 because I have important matters in regard to all the Euro- 
 peans who are slaves with the Prophet. If you are not dis- 
 posed to let me return, I should be disposed and content to 
 remain with your Excellency. 
 
 George Calamantino. 
 
 Arabic Encampment at Kartoum. 
 Sept. 10th, 1884. 
 His Excellency Gordon, 
 
 I beg you to accept my most cordial respects. It dis- 
 pleases me that you are irritated ; I hope to see you in better 
 moments, and I hope soon for a favourable issue. Health to 
 all and my respects to you. 
 
 G. Cuzzi.
 
 APPENDICES. 377 
 
 Answered. 
 
 Received your letter, asking to come to Kartoum, to 
 tell me important matters concerning all Europe. I do not 
 want to see you. 
 
 10/9/84. C. G. G. 
 
 ' APPENDIX C. 
 
 For these letters see Appendix A^. 
 
 APPENDIX D. 
 
 Copy of the answer written by the Ulema undersigned, to the Sheikh 
 Abdel Kader Ibrahim, and to the son of En Najoomi, dated 2'&rd 
 Zu'l Kadi, 1301. 
 
 In the name of God, the Merciful and Compassionate, the 
 Destroyer of him who is obstinate against His religion. Bless- 
 ing and peace be on our Lord Mahomed and his successors, 
 who have established the foundations and the solid pillars (of 
 the faith). 
 
 God has sent down ^ in His glorious book, through which 
 Cometh nothing false, neither in its direct teaching nor in 
 what may be deduced therefrom. This has been sent down 
 by the All Wise and All Worthy of Praise (saying), This day 
 have I completed ^ your religion for you, and I have per- 
 fected unto you My grace, and have granted unto you Islam 
 as (your) religion ; which is the last verse sent down to the 
 Chosen One (Mahomed). After this let no one heed any 
 saying or accept any act which is not dictated in the Book or 
 the Soouna. But if there had been any (fresh) Revelation on 
 which reliance could be placed for superseding any law of the 
 (established) laws of Islam, it would involve accusing the 
 precious Book of lying ; for after completion no new thing 
 can be added. 
 
 Moreover, it has been unanimously agreed that (anything 
 claiming to be) a revelation of the prophet, on whom be bless- 
 ing and peace, if its sense differ from the Law, that revela- 
 tion is not to be acted upon, but must be set aside ; and it is 
 one of the absolute conditions of him who contends (for the 
 faith) that he should not violate the unanimous agreement, 
 that he who utters the double confession (of faith in God and 
 the prophet) has (thereby) secured safety for his life and his 
 property, unless by the Law (right) of Islam as is written in 
 the Hadith ; * and this Law (right) of Islam has been defined 
 
 2 The Moslems say that the Koran was sent down, every word of it, 
 by the Angel Gabriel to Mahomed. 
 
 8 This verse is considered to be the completion of God's final Revela- 
 tion through Mahomed. 
 
 4 The Hadiths — the authorised traditional sayings of Mahomed and 
 those brought down by Gabriel.
 
 378 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNALS. 
 
 in the whole of the true Hadiths (namely) that breach of 
 chastity and murder are contrary to Law (right) and (con- 
 stitute) apostacy from Islam. And among apostates (is he) 
 who forsakes his religion and causes schism in congregation as 
 is (found) in the Hadiths. 
 
 Now this pretender to the office of Mahdi is causing schism 
 in the congregation and has broken the staff (unity) of Islam, 
 and has ruined the abodes of the Moslems, plundered their 
 property, dishonoured their women, and made some tyrannize 
 over others, as is in accordance with their apostacy, because 
 they have made lawful the killing of the faithful, the dis- 
 honour of their women, and the plunder of their property, 
 and calling them Kafirs (infidels) A\dthout cause, though these 
 are observing (or defending) the laws of religion, and walk- 
 ing in the firm road (way of truth) ; moreover, the majority 
 of his followers are sorely troubled by what they have seen of 
 slaughter, infamy, pillage, and taking of captives, nor are 
 they with him body and soul (heartily), the proof of which is 
 that only a few days passed before some of them came to 
 seek assistance from the Government against oppression, fam- 
 ine, and nakedness. 
 
 A number of letters have come, some of them from you, 
 in which are a number of erroneous statements, wherein the 
 Sheikh el Akbar says that the Most High God has appointed 
 for the Mahdi a divine host of Ministers (Vizirs), whom God 
 has reserved for him in the depths of His secret councils ; He 
 has revealed them declaring and witnessing about the Crea- 
 tion, and that which God has commanded for His servants ; 
 also that the Mahdi does nothing except by their counsel ; and 
 that they are Persians (foreigners), not one of them is an 
 Arab, yet they speak nothing but Arabic ; that they have a 
 chief, Hafiz, who is not of their race, who has never at all 
 rebelled against God ; he is the chief of the Vizirs. Their 
 number does not exceed nine, nor is it less than five. To 
 every six there is a Vizir, who has special knowledge and func- 
 tions. Here ends the quotation.^ 
 
 But where are these foreign Vizirs, and that one among 
 them who professes that he is an Arab ? and what about their 
 excess above that number ? 
 
 And with all this you accuse us Ulema of error from the 
 way of truth, and say that you know what others do not 
 know ; whereas, between you and him that has even the very 
 least knowledge, there is a very wide gulf. 
 
 And in those letters you address His Excellency the Gover- 
 nor-General (Gordon) as Saadat,^ and yet they contain accusa- 
 
 5 In Arabic writiiiir quotation marks are not used, but, at the end of 
 the quotation, they append the words, "End of his words." 
 
 6 Saadat — " Felicity " — is used as a title of honour, and cannot, of 
 course, be properly used for one who is a Kafir and under Divine wrath.
 
 APPENDICES. 379 
 
 tlons of his being a Kafir (infidel). Is not this to use terms 
 which contradict each other ? 
 
 In them you also say that the certain proof as to this being 
 indeed the Mahdi, the Expected One, on whom be peace, was 
 accepted by you at the very beginning of his manifestation, 
 and forbids you to receive letters or to reply to them. 
 
 Also in some of your letters you say that you have been 
 among the number of his Vizirs for the last thirty years. How 
 is this after what you wrote lately under your seal to your 
 Sheikh el Abeed, that whoever believes that this Mahomed 
 Achmet is the Mahdi must needs be a Kafir (infidel), because 
 there has not come any Hadith, or revelation, or Athar, but 
 sh(3ws to all the world the true nature of this man ; therefore 
 to believe in him would involve giving the lie to him, on whom 
 be blessing and peace, who is, above all, worthy to be believed. 
 
 Here is contradiction. Since your love of the world has 
 actually perverted you even into saying of him, " Peace be on 
 him."'' ('Alaihy es salaam.) 
 
 But the Prince ^ (of the faith), Abd el Ghani, the Nablusi, 
 said in his book, the Hadik en Nadih, the commentary on the 
 Mahomedan religion, No one ought to be distinguished by 
 the salaam (after his name) excepting the prophets, for one 
 cannot say, Ali, on whom be peace (salaam) ; and this rule 
 applies both to living and dead alike, excepting that a person 
 present may be addressed thereby, for people say, Peace be 
 upon thee. Here ends the quotation. 
 
 You have pretended that the coming of the Imam the Mahdi, 
 the Expected One, is proved for us and for you in the an- 
 cient books, and that it is impossible for you to incline unto us, 
 and that the hostility of the Ulema against the Imam the Mahdi 
 and their giving the lie to him are both proved and men- 
 tioned in the ancient books, and you call the attention of the 
 Ulema to the book Keshef el Ghummah 'anjamia' el nmmah of 
 Shakrani. But here, if you meant this for the ignorant who 
 do not know the ancient books or Keshef el Ghummah, that 
 might do, for there is not in all the aucient books any refer- 
 ence or allusion which concerns or points to any Mahdi. Nay, 
 it has been denied by the greatest men as being unsupported by 
 any Hadith or testimony, and it originates with the Shiahs, 
 who pretend that our Lord Mohammed, son of the Hanafiyeh, 
 will appear, and also his father 'Ali, in the clouds. But, if we 
 admit the sayings which seem to prove that there will be a 
 Mahdi, where is the Khorassaui, brother of him who is ap- 
 pointed Mahdi, who is to prepare the way for him before his 
 
 T " Peace be on him " (on whom be peace), the usual formula of salu- 
 tation to a true believer if alive, and used of prophets when their names 
 are mentioned. 
 
 8 Prince of the Faith — literally, axis or pole.
 
 380 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNALS. 
 
 appearing ? and where is the Safiyau who was to be king be- 
 fore him ? and where is the arm which was to appear with the 
 hand pointing (as if to direct) — This is the Mahdi ; follow 
 him ? And where is the dwindling of the Euphrates display- 
 ing the mountain of gold ? Or have you found in him the to- 
 kens revealed by the prophet of God, on whom be blessing and 
 peace, that the Malidi will not disturb any who is sleeping, nor 
 will he shed blood. But there are proofs to you and to all that he 
 has shed blood, and has disturbed sleepers to so great an extent 
 that you have made bold to say that he will destroy all gov- 
 ernments. Now if what is said about him and what you tell 
 us about him (be true), what would be the fruit of joy and fa- 
 vour to those who submit to him, since the end is destruction ? 
 Now the old books still exist. Produce, thei-efore, some 
 one who can show iis wliat you have asserted, for we have 
 found no trace of your assertions as you have set them forth, 
 especially because it is known to everybody who knows this 
 man who pretends to be Mahdi that he has neither tribe nor 
 relations of illustrious origin, and the tribe of which he comes 
 is very small indeed, nor is it (strong enough) to give victory 
 in any matters of religion to him who may come forth from it ; 
 and as to his standing alone and separate from any family, 
 which you have put forward as indicating the validity of his 
 claim, that in truth is a notable proof of its worthlessness ; for, 
 as the learned Imam Ibn Khaldoon said in his preface, of 
 which we extract a literal copy and send it to you herewith, 
 from which you will learn that he is not justified in his claim, 
 and that the religious mission without (the support of) family 
 will not abide, for every matter of public concern absolutely 
 needs (the suj^port of) family ; and a following and mob of 
 ignorant folk cannot be called family ; but (the support of) 
 family consists in ancestry and kindred, in whom support is to 
 be found. Let not his pretension deceive you in that he says 
 he is of the house (of the prophet), for this is not known or 
 proved amongst people of position. But, if that were granted, 
 have you seen with him any of the kmdred of the prophet who 
 help him to victory ? The whole of his arguments in favour 
 of his claim (establish) the contrary, and his proofs and evi- 
 dences are such as decide against the truth of his claim. And 
 if you had looked with the eye of justice, and followed the 
 right, you would not have believed in this pretension, or have 
 called on people to respond to it, while threatening them with 
 death, pillage, and more. But it was your duty to advise ^ the 
 Moslems, and not to take up arms against them. Have ye not 
 read. He who kills a believer intentionally merits Jehennam 
 everlastingly, and the wrath of God and His curse are upon 
 
 J The argument here rests upon the duty of avoiding force in dealing 
 with brother Moslems, and of using persuasion only.
 
 APPENDICES. 381 
 
 him, and great torment is reserved for him ? Or (have you 
 read) the Hadith, He who has borne arms against us is not 
 of us ? Or the command of the prophet, on whom be bless- 
 ing and peace (who says), In killing [a Moslem] he has broken 
 the staff (unity) of the Moslems, for their interests are one ? 
 And the Hadith, The believer is brother to the believer; he 
 may not opjjress him or betray him ? And the Hadith, One 
 believer is to another like (the stones of a) building ; they sup- 
 port one another ? Then he, on whom be blessing and peace 
 (in so saying), clasped his hands (locking the fingers together 
 by way of illustration). 
 
 Also the Hadith, He is a believer to whom people have con- 
 fided their pro2)erty and their lives, and he has accomplished 
 the Hegira who flees from sin and transgression. The be- 
 liever is the mirror of the believer, and the believer is brother 
 to the believer who shelters him from harm, and protects him 
 from his pursuers ? 
 
 Also the Hadith, Whoever casts a look upon his brother 
 believer to terrify him unjustly, God will terrify him in the 
 day of Resurrection ? 
 
 Also the Hadith, The believers are as one man. If he ac- 
 cuse his head, he accuses the whole body ; and if he accuse 
 his eye, he accuses the whole (body) ? 
 
 Also the Hadith, The (true) Moslem is he from whose hand 
 and tongue Moslems are safe, and the believer is he to whom 
 people have confided their blood (life) and their property ? 
 
 We have looked at the preface of Keshef el Ghummah, and 
 found that the author said in it : The prophet, on whom be 
 peace, announced to me that this book will remain until the 
 appearance of the Mahdi, on whom be peace, and his follow- 
 ers will profit by it, and by it will be able to dispense with the 
 advice of the Mahdi in most matters of religion, for when he, 
 on whom be peace, is come, he will do away with contradic- 
 tions and differences of opinion on the earth, so that in his 
 days there will remain none but the pure faith, and the body 
 of the Ulema of his day will be secretly hostile to liim. 
 
 But there is not foiuul in it that the Ulema err from the 
 way of truth, but (there is found) they are to be excused for 
 their thought when they see him differing in doctrine from the 
 doctrine of their Imams on account of their conviction that 
 there is no authority above the authority of their Imams ; yet 
 they would submit to him for fear of his power, and through 
 coveting the wealth he possesses, for he and the prophet are 
 brothers, and no one will oppose him but will fail. 
 
 Also in the Hadith (it is fonnd) that they (? he) -will fol- 
 low the steps of the prophet, blessing and peace on him ; he 
 will be infallible, and he will not decree as to what is lawful or 
 unlawful excepting as he, on whom be blessing and peace, would
 
 382 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNALS. 
 
 have decreed if he had been alive. He will not surpass any of 
 their Imams in knowledge and thought in the least. This is 
 what ought to be acted upon, and this as regards him who has 
 attained such a degree of profound knowledge (of religion) 
 that he has arrived at differing (ventures to differ), though the 
 Imams are against him. 
 
 But your Imam has not attained this degree of profound 
 knowledge, for he knows nothing of the six sciences on per- 
 fection, on which this profound knowledge depends. Besides 
 which, he has forsaken the axioms which are among the essen- 
 tials of religion. 
 
 But the Sha'arani himself, from whose book you quote as 
 guide, has said in his book El Yawakeet w'el Jowakir (" Rubies 
 and Jewels "), that the Mahdi is to be son of Hassan el Askari, 
 and his birth will be in the night of the middle of Sha'aban, 
 two hundred, fifty and five, and he remaineth until he meets 
 Jesus the Son of Mary. (Sha'arani) said, " Thus was I in- 
 formed by Sheikh Hassan el Ar'aki when I met with me, and 
 my lord Ali el Khowas confirmed the same." 
 
 End of the quotation. 
 
 Now if his birth was in the year two hundred fifty and five, 
 and he is to be appointed Mahdi as a youth, as is found in the 
 Hadiths, and (seeing that) since then one thousand and forty- 
 six years have passed, while the age of your Imam does not 
 amount to the tenth part of those years, how can you quote the 
 evidence of Sha'arani on your side, and convict us of error by 
 him, while he is quite clear in (saying) that which contradicts 
 this pretension ? Whereas if he (the Mahdi) had laid claim to 
 sovereignty, that would have been more agreeable to his 
 (Sha'arani's) saying : He has made his claim because the peo- 
 ple followed him. For the Governor-General here does not 
 prevent any one from going to him or to any one else, but the 
 roads are open to all who please ; notwithstanding which the 
 people do not cease to come in crowds and crowds, desiring the 
 protection of his government ; and he protects them, and is 
 beneficent to them, and provides for them ; whereas it is just 
 the opposite with those who go to you, even the envoys. And 
 if you doubt this, stop the seizing of booty and the killing of 
 deserters, and pillage after fighting, and see after that who 
 will follow you. For without doubt there are those who do 
 so under compulsion, and are distressed thereat, and wrongly 
 imagine that this is from the Turkish Government. But now 
 we and you are here in the Soudan, and there is not one here 
 of the Turkish Government. If you were to come to Kar- 
 toum j'ou wotdd not find a Turk. Why then is this war ? Is 
 it for the ruin of religion, for the slaughter of Moslems, for the 
 overthrow of houses and mosques, for the burning of the books 
 of the religion of Islam, and the killing of the Ulema, or to
 
 APPENDICES. 383 
 
 close the way against the pilgrimage of the Hajj (to Mecca) ? 
 And this is (your) Mahdi's work ! 
 
 Now, because it has been declared in the Sahbeehh that reli- 
 gion is sincerity to God and His prophet, and His Imams the 
 Moslems and their people, we have written this unto you, in the 
 hope that you ^\^ll understand it, and vnW act accordingly before 
 you are hemmed in by the evil of your deeds. And as to this 
 business, since its close and end are close at hand, we remind 
 you thereof, and if that which we have enlarged upon is not 
 sufficient for you, then let your Ulema and your notables come 
 to examine the matter in a place where both parties will feel 
 secure. For there is the Book and the Soonna, and let them 
 bring about union between us, and God will guide whom He 
 will, and cause to err whom He will. But if this does not 
 commend itself to you, — although it is enjoined in the saying 
 of the Most High, If you should differ in anything, submit it 
 to God and His Prophet, if ye be believers in God and in the 
 last Day ; — (then) attend to our proposal and come : let us 
 call our sons and your sons, and our wives and your wives, and 
 ourselves and yourselves, and consult, and lay the curse of 
 God upon the liars. 
 
 And be not misled by that which you have mentioned about 
 the slaughter of Moslems in Kordofau, and in the engage- 
 ment with your Sheikh el Abeed, for this is nothing in com- 
 parison with what happened to the Moslems in the raid of 
 Tithar and the slaughter of Xebuchadnezzar in the Holy 
 House,i° and the destruction thereof, and the war of Tamer- 
 lane, and others beside, which are written in the books, as will 
 be understood on referring to them ; also in the last war, in 
 which were martyred, by the Beni el Asf ar,^^ a number of Mos- 
 lems past counting. And after the great wars and destruction 
 of countries, the Moslems have not seen any result injurious to 
 the faith. Was not the Caaba overthrown by the engines of 
 war ? Were not the Imam Hussein and his family slain at 
 Kerbela ? Now, if all this proves that he who conquers has 
 right on his side, why then did you not follow the conquering 
 government which subjugated the Moslem countries ? 
 
 Moreover, as to the two engagements you have mentioned, 
 and those who were killed in them, some of tliem were killed 
 by thirst and some by treachery. And it is well known that 
 war resembles the buckets (ou a wheel like see-saw ; one up, 
 the other down). 
 
 We are ashamed to reply to the foolish comparison you draw 
 about the raid of Badr and that of Ohod, as we are also 
 
 1" The arf^iiment here is thai true believers are sometimes killed, 
 though in tlie rijihr, as the Israelites were by Nebuchadnezzar. 
 
 11 "Yellow -haired Greeks," the ancient phrase here applied as "Chil- 
 dren of the Yellow (race)," the yellow-haired Russians being meant.
 
 384 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNALS. 
 
 ashamed to reply to your Imam, who places on a level with the 
 righteous Khalifs those weak (miserables), poor in faith, who 
 are like brute beasts, and even more ignorant. Were we te 
 answer that, it would take too long, wherefore we lay hold of 
 the reins of our pen and stop it from running in that Maidan 
 (race-course). 
 
 And God will direct in the right way. 
 Signed and Sealed : — 
 
 MoosA Mahomed, Mufti of the Mejlis of Kartoum. 
 Sheikh el Emin Mahomed, President and distin- 
 guished one (Primus) of the Ulema of the Soudan. 
 Shakir Effendi, Mufti of the Court of Appeal of the 
 
 Soudan. 
 Sheikh Hussein el Madhi, Professor of Science at 
 
 the Mosque. 
 Mahamed Khowajli, Supreme Kadi of the Soudan. 
 
 Zu'L Kadi, 23rd, 1301. I 
 September 14th, 188i. j 
 
 APPENDIX E. 
 Endorsed : — 
 
 " Letter from Faki Mustapha to Cassim el Mousse, Meletof Shaggyehs. 
 No seal to it." 
 
 In the name of God the Merciful and Compassionate, the 
 bountiful Ruler. 
 
 Blessing upon our lord Mahomed, and on his successors, 
 and peace. 
 
 From the servant of his Lord (without Whom he has no 
 strength), the Fakeer of God, Alihmed el Mustafa the humble 
 theologian, faithful to Mohammed, to the beloved and virtu- 
 ous Cassim el Mousse, the Melek (king), whom may God ever 
 preserve. 
 
 After wishing you abundance of peace, I greatly desire (to 
 see) you. May God never separate me from you, or deprive 
 me of you. And it is well known to your honour that after 
 seeing you, and (after) your enlisting in our ranks (in faith), 
 besides the previous friendly ties which draw us nearer to each 
 other, that we have been very anxious about you, and still think 
 of you night and day ; and more especially when you were in 
 Baghshuda, and as was believed, near tlie Imam, on whom be 
 peace. Until (we heard that) the Most High God has deliv- 
 ered you in His mercy and goodness ; and when you came to 
 this town, inhaliited by oppressors. And (when) it was the 
 will of God that thou shouldst enter into this town, our anxi- 
 ety about thee increased on account of what we know of the 
 power of the Mahdi, which no Government can withstand.
 
 APPENDICES. 385 
 
 And when a party of his enemies were destroyed, we made 
 inquiries as to those who were slain, being anxious (feeling 
 compassion) for thee. 
 
 And we pray to the most High God, publicly and privately, 
 to deliver thee ont of it (the city) in safety. And when we 
 heard that yon had departed from it to the Halfai, we returned 
 thanks to God for the sake of your children and of our children, 
 (both) for your safety and for your departure from among 
 them. Praises be to God for this. We declare to you, 
 Beloved ! that as to truth (of the mission) of this Mahdi, 
 (that) our being in his service is sufficient for you, if you be- 
 lieve in us. Do not pay attention to the Ulema of Kartoum, 
 who pretend that Gordon is right, whilst he is the most deter- 
 mined of enemies to those who believe in the glorious Koran. 
 But it was predicted, before his appearing, that the Ulema 
 would be hostile to him and that he would kill them. Also 
 that the nobles Avould be hostile to him and that he would fight 
 them, and kill some of them, even (if they took sanctuary) 
 under the curtains of the Kaaba (at Mecca). 
 
 And this man is that very Mahdi who will perform those 
 deeds. And as soon as Ave were convinced of the truth of his 
 mission, we arose and submitted unto him. We left off study 
 of the glorious Koran, and the (public) prayers on Fridays, 
 and laid hold of him, because he is the unfailing support 
 (== rock, a phrase applied to God). We have not ceased to 
 think of you, and when you were in Kartoum we tried to get 
 the safe conduct, and we obtained it, for yourself and for your 
 property and your children and your wives and all your fol- 
 lowers — explicit, sealed, and signed, and beyond chance of 
 fraud or pretence. God is my witness in what I say. 
 
 I tried to get that good tidings into the town to you, but 
 could not find the way, till God heard my prayers and did not 
 disappoint my hopes concerning you, so that your wife and 
 her mother came to the Mahdi, on whom be peace, and I 
 obtained their safe conduct. 
 
 I am most deeply anxious about you lest you should be 
 (imprisoned) again with those people, whose ways God hath 
 straitened (who are in difficulties), for the Imam, the Mahdi 
 himself (on whom be peace), has arrived at Schatt fifteen 
 days ago. And he has honoured us these two days by writing 
 (from him). 
 
 If it is in your power to bring away with you all you have 
 of arms and ammunition and ships (steamers), meet us with 
 them — that will obtain for you great honour in the sight of 
 the Imam, and of his honourable followers ; but if not, God 
 will not require of any man more than he is able to do (quota- 
 tion from the Koran). Then come by yourself, and if you 
 leave behind you any property do not mind it, for you will
 
 386 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNALS. 
 
 obtain that at the conquest (of the city) without diminution. 
 Be not ti'oubled as to what has happened between you and the 
 Fakeers in the East. It is a small matter, considering the 
 indulgence of the Imam, on whom be peace. What you did 
 will not be accounted as misdeeds compared with the misdeeds 
 of Salehh Lik when he killed the Yakoobat, and plundered 
 their property ; and the sons of the Mukatify, and plundered 
 their property, and took their children, although they were 
 noble. In spite of all that, he is nearer than any other man 
 to the Imam, who has forgiven him, and given him full pardon. 
 
 Do not take account of what you have done, but come out 
 to ns secretly, if not openly, that we may convince you of 
 the truth (genuineness) of the Mahdi, by whom in His mercy 
 God has strengthened our weakness. But beware of delay, 
 for I fear that after his arrival here yon will not find the way 
 (ojien) to come to us, nor will our entreaties avail. 
 
 Do not heed the ignorant talk of the Ulema of Kartoum, or 
 to the pretences (ideas) of people who heed carnal things 
 rather than sacred. Wherefore God has sealed their hearts so 
 that they do not know. They are (foolish) like ostriches, yea, 
 they are inferior (to them). 
 
 Oh, my beloved, come by yourself — or with those who are 
 *with thee if thou canst — but beware ! — beware of delay. I 
 warn you earnestly against going back to Kartoum after God 
 has brought you out from thence. 
 
 Hasten to iis that we may help you before it be too late. 
 
 The time of the Turks is over. The rope (line) of their 
 dominion is cut (severed), and what God has cut cannot be 
 mended. Do not hang upon (attach yourself to) that which 
 has been cut, and which is declared by the chosen (people) of 
 God to be indeed cut ; as was declared by His projDhet, on 
 whom be peace. 
 
 Now, according to what we know of your intelligence and 
 knowledge (we say), do not be misled by the changes of this 
 life, — for the days are few. (It is only for a time.) Peace 
 be with yon. 
 
 (Signed) The Fakeer of God, 
 
 Ahhmet el Mustafa, 
 The theologian, the faithful one of Mohammed. 
 I have no seal. 
 
 Dated 19 Zu'l Kadi, 1.301. 
 September 10, 1884. 
 
 Postscript. — I inform yon that Gordon and the Ulema of 
 Kartoum have had one of their mails captured in Metemma 
 by a one-eyed man, named Mahomed Ahhmed — (going) to 
 the Governor-General of Egypt (? Cairo). 
 
 But as to Gordon's letters, he says in them that he and 
 those with him will perish if they are not reinforced within
 
 APPENDICES. 387 
 
 these two months, as they are in want, and have nothing left 
 in their hands but Kartoum only. 
 
 The Slim of 55,000 guineas at Berber has been taken by the 
 Fakeers, and the letter of the Kartoum people tells hun that 
 they have been lost. 
 
 From this it is evident to you that there is no help for them. 
 Therefore do not remain with them with your family. The 
 wise man looks after himself. 
 
 (Signed) Ahhmet el Mustafa. 
 
 Same date. 
 
 You will receive an answer to his honour Ahhnied Bek Ali 
 Jallab secretly sent to him, and hand his answer to bearer. 
 Peace (to you). 
 
 Same date. 
 
 APPENDIX £1. 
 
 A Proclamation from Gordon, addressed to the people of 
 Kartoum, preceded his arrival. He told them that, knowing 
 of the general regret caused by the severe measures of tlie 
 Government for the suppression of the slave traffic, and the 
 seizure and punishment of all concerned, according to conven- 
 tion and decree, he had resolved that none should interfere with 
 their property, and that henceforth whoever had slaves should 
 enjoy full right to their service, and full control over them. 
 Wlien the terms of this document reached Europe, a storm of 
 indignation was raised against both the law and the giver. Its 
 terms were greeted as an insult to the honour of England, and 
 as a A^olation of all the traditions of philanthropy. Few paused 
 to consider who was the author of the concession, few to con- 
 sider what that concession meant ; almost all were as ready 
 with their blame as but a short while before they had been 
 prodigal of their praise. The implacable enemy of slavery was 
 now its friend, and in the name of England had declared his 
 change of front. What would the world say to this, and what 
 could England say to the man who, however exceptional his 
 character and career, had thus misrepresented her ? 
 
 Perhaps this proclamation, in Europe the motive of so mnch 
 silliness and ill-feeling, did more than anything else towards 
 enabling Gordon to win Kartoum. From the moment it reached 
 the town the attitude of the iidiabitants changed ; sidlen apathy 
 was converted into joyful expectation, and thousands who had 
 been ready to welcome the Mahdi became eager to show hom- 
 age to Gordon, It was altogetlier a brilliant diplomatic con- 
 ception, the work of a man who thoroughly understood the 
 character of the people whom he addressed. It restored to 
 those people rights of which they had been robbed, and which
 
 388 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNALS. 
 
 they were now in a position to regain for themselves whenever 
 they would. Yet in the sample gift of what was already theirs 
 lay the opportunity of avoiding nnich bloodshed and misery — 
 an opportunity which Gordon's insight into national character- 
 istics enaltled him to understand, and his rapidity of action 
 enabled him to grasp. By the treaty of 1877, the Soudanese 
 were permitted to hold their slaves until the year 1889 ; and 
 this treaty was made when Egypt had no notion of relinquishing 
 her possession of the country. Yet it was known to be useless, 
 as its conditions could never have been carried out. The 
 avowed object of Gordon's mission to the Soudan was to 
 remove the Egyptians, and to hand it back to its own children, 
 an operation which in itself involved the permission to hold 
 slaves for ever. Had Gordon said, " I come to concede you the 
 Soudan, which is, when I leave, to be governed as you wish, 
 but after 1889 you must not hold slaves," the Soudanese, and 
 the whole of Europe, would have thought him mad ; but as he 
 said, "I come to concede to you the Soudan, which is, when I 
 leave, to be governed as you wish, so that you will have the 
 right to hold sLives as long as you like," it was only the Sou- 
 danese who were able to see the sense and value of the con- 
 cession, and to call its author mad was a privilege reserved for 
 certain European philanthropists. — The Story of Chinese Gordon, 
 pp. 70-73. v. ii. 
 
 APPENDIX F. 
 
 PlUVATE. 
 
 From the Mudirof Kartoum to the Governor-General of the Soudan, 
 
 [This Report was made by H. E. Hussein Pasha, Mudir in the neigh- 
 bourhood of Aloob in Kordofan, and it remained passing from hand to 
 hand among the rebels till we heard of its existence. We demanded 
 it, and received the following copy, which I transmit just as it is.] 
 
 On Saturday, 2nd of Moharram, 1301, was accomplished the 
 arrival of the detachment of troops in the vicinity of Aloob, 
 which is near the government seat of Kordofan, by the will of 
 the Creator. 
 
 On inspection of them (the troops) it was found that they 
 had suffered from excessive thirst and the not finding sufficient 
 proper drinking water for the detachment, on account of the 
 loss, six days before, of the guide who was appointed to lead 
 the way, and on account of ignorance of the places where 
 drinking water was to be found. 
 
 The consequence of which was to throw the square into a 
 state of confusion, to the extent that privates could not recog- 
 nise their companies nor officers their men. The transport also 
 was scattered — I mean that the animals were scattered singly
 
 APPENDICES. 389 
 
 (without control). It was then that Monsieur Hicks, com- 
 mander of the detachment, ordered the men and officers to 
 collect in order. But as one of the commanding officers of the 
 detachment disobeyed, he referred the matters to All ed Deen 
 Pasha, to see to bringing the detachment into order. But his 
 Excellency answered him that he himself was the commander, 
 and responsible. The consequence of which was to cause 
 uiiiversal weakness and paralysis. We met a body of troops 
 and were all surrounded in one place, and on account of what 
 I have said — and for want of water until Sunday, as we did 
 not find enough to last till then — and thus it was impossible to 
 escape destruction. 
 
 But oh, alas for the Government authorities ! ^^ who are 
 (themselves) secure from danger. But if the will of the Most 
 High God has ordained our death (so far) delayed, it will be 
 from thirst and not from anything else. 
 
 I, the writer of this report, am called Hussein Pasha, Mudir, 
 an officer of the Home Government in the army, a native of 
 Egypt — one of those raised from the ranks ; and I adjure you 
 by God, who (may) see what I have written, (if) you are 
 believers in God and his prophet, that yon will make this known 
 to the Government authorities. 
 
 The will of God be done, and there is no escape from the 
 decree of God, Who hears and knows all things. May your 
 life be prolonged. 
 
 Written Friday, 19 September, 1884, 8 o'clock 12 minutes. 
 
 Marked in the corner 77. 
 
 APPENDIX G. 
 
 Letter from General Gordon to Ibrahim Abd-el-Kader, Kadi of 
 Kalakla. 
 
 This moment we have received a letter from the General of 
 the English troops, (stating) that the English troops who ar- 
 rived in Dongola have killed the Fakih (theologian) El Huda 
 and the Shareef Mahhmood, who was sent from Mohamet 
 Achmet for the blockade of Dongola — and they have (also) 
 killed all the dervishes who were with them ; and they are 
 marching straight on Berber ; and that the steamers we sent 
 last week have arrived at Berber and found it jierfectly deso- 
 late and empty. They entered it and seized the two steamers 
 
 '2 The intention of the writer seems to be to convey reproach of tlie 
 Government authorities in Cairo, who were responsible fortiic fate of the 
 army and his own desperate condition. But lie seems unwillin<j to utter 
 a word inconsistent with Moslem resij^mation or the loyalty of a soldier, 
 though the detachment to which he belonged had been exposed to de- 
 struction.
 
 390 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNALS. 
 
 wliieh were lyiug there. And (the General states) that Ma- 
 homet el Khair tied from them, and that before this he had 
 deluded the people and told them to come to him to meet the 
 army ready for Berber ; some of them would not go, but 
 some of them went to him, and when they asked him for their 
 expenses he sent them to an empty room to take the cash. 
 When they found no cash there he told them that it was in 
 the posessionof a Jin (demon). They were astonished at this. 
 But when they found that the wliole thing was deceit from be- 
 ginning to end they returned to the places whence they came. 
 Now, because you are one of our old friends, and because the 
 brotherhood between us is a fact known to all people, we send 
 you this news which we received seven days ago ; and now we 
 have very greatly strengthened the defences of Kartoum and 
 its mines. We are now preparing an earthquake by means of 
 electricity, and I fear for you on its reaching your place ; nor 
 do we wish you to be among the others (when it takes effect). 
 
 Tell the son of Najoomi and Abu Kerjali to go to Dongola. 
 It is better for them ; and later on, when we are arranging 
 matters, we will make them Sultans. 
 
 Do not say that Kartoum is starving, or eating dogs and 
 asses. I swear that such provisions are not to be found with 
 you as are to be found in Kartoum — both eatables and drink- 
 ables. We do not desire your immediate submission to the 
 Government, lest Mohamet Achmet should suspect you ; nor 
 should we wish you to obey Mohamet Achmet, but that you 
 should remain neuter until you see what will happen. As I 
 know that you need soap for washing your faces, I here send 
 you a small box of that wherewith we wash our faces. 
 
 JSalute the son of Najoomi from me, and tell him (that) to- 
 day there came to us a man from your side, like a peacock, 
 from the quantity of coloured patches ornamenting his mantle, 
 so that the inhabitants were astonished at liim. 
 
 A letter from the Ulema to Mohamet Achmet is also sent to 
 you. Please forward it to him safely. 
 
 30th of Zu'l Kadi. 
 
 Sept. 21, 188i. 
 
 APPENDIX K. 
 
 From x\.bd el Kader Ibrahim, Kadi of Kalakla, to General Gordon. 
 
 In the name of God the Merciful and Compassionate. 
 
 Praise be to God the bountiful Ruler — with blessing on our 
 lord Mahomet, and peace. 
 
 From the servant of his lord Abd el Kader Ibrahim — the 
 Kadi of Kalakla to Gordon Pasha. 
 
 Three times have we warned you, sufficiently for people who 
 have sense ; and all on account of your friendship for us, of 
 which you spoke in your letter.
 
 APPENDICES. 391 
 
 This was for your safety and for the safety of the poor and 
 of the Moslems who are with you in the city. But neither 
 our warnings nor our arguments have taken eil'ect upon you. 
 
 You write to us every time that you are steadfast in deny- 
 ing (the mission of) this Imam the Mahdi, on wliom be peace. 
 
 But nothing has led you to this false conclusion except the 
 enmity between the Moslems and the infidels — and the say- 
 ings of the wicked Ulema who are with you at Kartoum, as 
 well as the love of supremacy and of this life — and the de- 
 sire to continue therein. O delusion ! delusion ! (go to ! go 
 to!) 
 
 But know that all that thy informants have told thee, and 
 of which thou hast told us, is false ; for had there been any- 
 thing in it we were better informed than (any such things 
 taken place we had better opportunities for knowing it than) 
 thou ; because the post and (other) communications pass by 
 night and by day in all parts (of the country) which has sub- 
 mitted to the Mahdi, upon whom be peace. And if such things 
 as you mentioned were to happen, that would not weaken 
 his title to be Mahdi. But the Imam the Mahdi, upon whom 
 be peace, is victorious ; and beyond all doubt he will destroy 
 all rebels and hypocrites, although he were left alone in the 
 world without a man with him, as has been proved by evi- 
 dence and by eye-witnesses. 
 
 Such communications as you send do not please the hearts 
 of the auxiliaries (of the Mahdi) — especially of their Emirs — 
 for by God, they are firmly resolved and determined, and 
 every one of them comes and goes (being) willing to die ; and 
 they are not afraid of threats by word or deed. But under all 
 circumstances they trust in God. For this Mahdi is right. 
 English troops or chemicals (electricity) or stores of ammuni- 
 tion will not avail against the Mahdi. What will avail (you) 
 is to return to the truth and cast away what is false ; and for 
 all to submit and siu'render to this Imam, upon whom be 
 peace. 
 
 There is no deliverance or safety excepting in him ; and if 
 you really have friendship for me, as you say, listen to my 
 words and benefit by them, and surrender yourselves, with the 
 Moslems, — otherwise the day will soon come when you will 
 learn who has been the greatest liar. 
 
 As to the box of soap sent by your messenger, it has reached 
 US, and here we send it back to you rejected ; because your 
 sending back tlie present of the Imam the Mahdi — upon whom 
 be peace — compels us to return your present. And how could 
 we do otherwise than return it, when you sent back the present 
 of tlie Vicegerent upon Earth of God, and His prophet, upon 
 whom be blessing and peace ? Whereas acceptance of a pres- 
 ent promotes good-will.
 
 392 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNALS. 
 
 In fine, this letter now (last) sent has done nothing but in- 
 crease the ill-will ; for if you and the people of the city had 
 known the facts about the auxiliaries of the Imam, upon whom 
 be peace, who are now (in arms) against and around the city, 
 you would not liave written this, but you would simply have 
 surrendered — if so be that God wills your safety and that of 
 those that are with you. 
 
 This is my advice to you. (Surrender.) 
 
 God is the guide into all truth, and unto Him all return and 
 submit. 
 
 (Signed) Abd el Kader Ibrahim. 
 
 Written last dav of Zii'l Kadi, 1301. 
 Sept. 21, 1884. 
 
 APPENDIX L. 
 
 From Abderrahhman en Najoomi and Abdallah en Noor to 
 Gordon Pasha. 
 
 In the name of God the merciful and compassionate. 
 Praise be to God the bountiful Ruler, with blessing on our 
 lord Mahomed and his successors, and on whom be peace. 
 
 From the servants of their Lord Abderrahhman en Na- 
 joomi and Abdallah en Noor to Gordon Pasha, representative 
 of England and of the Khedive. May God guide him into 
 truth. Amen. 
 
 We have to state to you that as to thy presence in the 
 Soudan this last time, aud thy first letter to the Imam the 
 Mahdi, on whom be peace, and as to thine appointment by 
 the Khedive ; the Imam the Mahdi, on whom be peace, has 
 written to thee, aud has shown thee the truth in leading thee 
 to God ; and also that which concerns thy salvation and that 
 of those with thee, and how tkou mayest attain salvation in 
 this world and in the next. 
 
 Thou hast replied to his Highness (in a manner) contrary 
 to that (which was) expected (of thee), i"ejeeting the truth, 
 whether for or against thee. After we arrived with our hosts 
 to fight thee and drive thee into subniission — willingly or 
 unwillingly — the Imam, out of compassion for thee and 
 those with thee, a second time exhorted thee to surrender to 
 the command of God and His prophet, and gave thee the 
 covenant (in the name) of God, and His promise that if thou 
 didst surrender thou shouldst be (assured of) safety, with thy 
 children, thy property, and all that thou hast, (thus) securing 
 to thee the same (privileges) as to us, and the same (duties) 
 as are required of us. 
 
 You have received that letter of his by his messengers the 
 Moslems whom he appointed from thence to advise thee, after
 
 APPENDICES. 393 
 
 onr arrival in this (desert) Deem. But neither you nor those 
 with you have accepted the call (wherewitli) God and His 
 prophet have called you. 
 
 You answered as you did to our lord, and you demanded a 
 thing of Abd el Kader Ibrahim, when el Jaber the Moslem 
 came (to thee), (who was) one of the messengers sent to thee 
 for negotiation — (but) thou didst send hiui back. Yet we 
 had sent him to thee in our intention for good and in our 
 good-will towards thee and towards those with thee. And we 
 wrote to you the advice which reached you. Nevertheless, you 
 did not listen to the truth nor accept it — because the will of 
 God must be accomplished. 
 
 We had therefore resolved not to correspond any more with 
 you, nor to communicate with you excejit by the sword and 
 such like weapons, until we have destroyed your glory and 
 your strength departs (from you), and we pluck you out by 
 the roots when we seize you in our grasp. However, yester- 
 day your messenger arrived with a letter from you to our 
 brother Abd el Kader Ibrahim, in which you deceitfully 
 counsel him and try to seduce him from his religion, and in 
 which you tell him to desire us and Aboo Kerja to go to the 
 Dar el Gharb (West) (as being) better for us — because when 
 you are arranging matters you will make us Sultans. But 
 every man of sense knows that all things are in the power of 
 God and not in your liand, nor in that of those who appointed 
 you, nor in that of the English, on whom you depend. And 
 you lie unto the people with you about their arrival (the 
 English) at Dongola, and about their killing Sheikh Ahhmed 
 el Huda and the Shereef Mohammed ; and that they were 
 going straight to Berber ; and that Mahomed el Khair ^^ the 
 Emir of Berber ran away from them, and made fools of the 
 men with him when they asked him for their pay. As to your 
 promise of making us Sultans when you settle the affairs of 
 the country as stated in your letter, and your statement that 
 the steamers sent last week by you had found Berber desolate 
 and deserted, and that the two steamers found there had been 
 captured, we have learned from this letter of yours that the 
 steamers you sent did not seize anything at Berber except 
 only the steamers, and it is known to all the world that the 
 Moslems captured a quantity of Governuiont stores which 
 were in Berber. But you do not mention having seized any 
 of them — only the steamers. 
 
 Lying does not become a Pasha such as you. 
 
 And we received the day before yesterday a letter from 
 Mahomed el Khair telling us that he was on the shore — both 
 east and west — ready to fight your steamers. And, please 
 
 13 The latest accounts from tho Soudan state that Ibn en Najoomi 
 has quarrelled with Mahomed el Khair on account of his peculations.
 
 394 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNALS. 
 
 God, they (the steamers) with the guns, will not go back to 
 you a second time. But the last will overtake (redeem) the 
 first, and you will not hear of them again. We did not think 
 that with your intelligence and your knowledge that God has 
 strengthened us in His earth, you would have told us lies or 
 tried to frighten and deceive us, and those who are with us, by 
 talking of things (already better) known to us, and of which 
 we have constant information, (receiving) news day and night 
 from all parts of the world. 
 
 And you seem to have chosen for us, that we should go 
 back to the West (Dar el Gharb) ; trying to deceive and mis- 
 lead us through desire for the life of this world, and (as 
 though) we covet (the dignity) of being Sultans and (to have) 
 dominion. But we call upon thee to come to God and His 
 prophet, and to follow the right faith, 'and to reject the re- 
 ligion in which thou art, and to adopt the religion of our 
 prophet Mahomed, on whom be blessing and peace ; and the 
 fellowship of his Khalif Mahomed, the Mahdi, on whom be 
 peace. If thou wilt do this thou shalt have honour in this 
 world and in the next. 
 
 Otherwise, if thou dost still look forward to the coming of 
 the English, who, as thou pretendest, have reached Dongola, 
 and are going to Berber, know for certain and be sure — 
 and accept the advice we give thee on the subject — that all 
 the Soudan country, except Khartoum and the towns of Sen- 
 naar and Dongola, is all of it in the hands of the Mahdi, and 
 in the possession of his honourable friends. From the ex- 
 treme border of the Soudan to Suakin, and to Reef, no one 
 shares with them (in the possession thereof). 
 
 The Government who sent thee as Governor-General does 
 not possess a single handbreadth of ground. 
 
 The English came several times to Suakin. They were 
 killed (fought) by one of the lieutenants there — Oshman 
 ibii Aboo Bekr Digna — who has captured all their armies and 
 the booty thereof. 
 
 Therefore, look to thy own safety elsewhere without (re- 
 lying on) them, and prepare thyself for what may happen to 
 thee before their arrival. For the whole English Govern- 
 ment (nation) could not pass by way of Suakin or Dongola. 
 But even if the English were to come, God would kill them 
 by the hand of His faithful before they (could) reach you. 
 Know that the Imam the Mahdi, on whom be peace, has sent 
 us for the sole express purpose of fighting thee and as advance- 
 corps to prepare the way of his army and of his Highness. 
 
 But whereas thou hast been appointed Governor on behalf 
 of two eminent governments — and as thou sayest that thou 
 hast come to arrange the affairs of the Soudan — thou wilt 
 not find a better opportunity for carrying out thy intention
 
 APPENDICES. 395 
 
 and desire successfully than (now) in these two daj^s before 
 the arrival of the whole army. 
 
 But if thou and those with thee in the town delay — 
 awaiting the English — till after the arrival here of the whole 
 army and the noble presence (of the Mahdi) you will be 
 disappointed in your hope and desire. Therefore it (will be) 
 much better for thee to collect all thy forces and come out to 
 meet us beyond the fortifications, from which we are but an 
 hour distant. 
 
 Then thou and thy men may attain your wish, and go back 
 to your fortress, happy in having fought us. But if thou dost 
 delay until the arrival of the whole army and of the noble 
 presence, we are certain that you will not then think of fighting 
 or of hoping to possess (conquer) any more. 
 
 It can therefore only be your excessive fear of us which pre- 
 vents your coming out and fighting us. Soon, please God, thou 
 and those wdth thee will be in our grasjj, and will taste the sore 
 evil (result) of your unwillingness to follow the way of God. 
 
 Know, oh ! Excellency Gordon, that whereas thou hast said 
 in thy letter to Abd el Kader Ibrahim that thou wast dili- 
 gently working in preparing an earthquake, and didst fear for 
 him when it should reach him, that thy saying is nonsense, 
 unworthy for an intelligent being to utter. 
 
 Has the Earth, indeed, brought out to thee her demons 
 (for thy service) ? 
 
 Thou hast tried to frighten him by sapng that thou wast 
 coming out thyself to fight and kill us, and didst order liim to 
 leave us. But this (coming out to fight) would have pleased 
 us better. 
 
 The eartli is (become) too straight for thee, wide though it 
 be, and thy ways (of escape) are cut ofi:'. Look out for thyself 
 (to find) way of escape from the judgments (vengeance) of 
 God and of His prophet. For we have thee by the hair of 
 the head, through the power of God and his will. 
 
 As to the ansv/er sent by the Ulcma to the Imam the Mahdi, 
 on whom be peace, we have sent it by a special messenger to 
 be placed in his hands. But do not thou rely on the lies they 
 tell in it, because since the reply which they sent by Jaber the 
 Moslem, in which they denied in tlie strongest terms (the 
 validity of the claim of) the Mahdi, they sent messengers and 
 letters to the Mahdi, on whom be peace, apologizing for what 
 they wrote to him, and for what they may (in future) write, 
 making" oath to liim that they are comjielled by you to utter 
 these things for fear of their life, and (only do so) pending the 
 arrival of his noble presence, and they pray liim not to have 
 any ill-will against them for what they may say. 
 
 If thou hast sense, do not regard what they write, but have 
 it sent through you.
 
 396 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNALS. 
 
 Aud whatever you may find to your interest and for the 
 prolongation of thy dominion, about which thou art deluded, 
 and from which thou shalt soon depart, please God, do it with- 
 out their advice or counsel, for all they show thee is only de- 
 ceit, till they (can become) master of their opportunity to join 
 the Imam the Mahdi, on whom be peace. 
 
 As to the favour which God has granted to Sheikh Ahhmed 
 el Huda and Shereef Mahmood and the faithful ones with 
 them to die as martyrs, that is the ultimate object (of desire) 
 for all followers of the Imam the Mahdi, on whom be peace, 
 and what they have promised him (to do), and what they pray 
 God may honour them (in granting to them). 
 
 We pray God to grant us the favour He has accorded to 
 them, aud to bestow on us the honours of martyrdom, pleasant 
 in His sight. And we continue in prayer to God to make us 
 among His beloved ones honoured by Him with martyrdom. 
 For He has the power to do this, and to Him it appertains to 
 hear (prayer). 
 
 What we have said is enough. God has the guidance in His 
 hand. 
 
 (Date and Seals cut off.) 
 
 [The length of these letters, and the persuasions used, even the great 
 sheet of paper and the writing of the letters, testify to the great respect 
 in which General Gordon was held. 
 
 The subterranean earthquake or mine — to be produced by chemicals 
 or electricity — is mentioned in this letter in reply to the mention made 
 in General Gordon's former letter. These chiefs do not believe he could 
 do such a work except by aid of demons or Jins. 
 
 Where, in exhorting General Gordon to surrender, they point out his 
 critical condition, and use the phrase, " We have thee by the hair of the 
 head," this is in allusion to the conqueror's hold upon a prostrate foe 
 (by the one lock of hair which Moslems have on their heads), just at the 
 last moment, when the sword is uplifted to slay.] 
 
 APPENDIX M. 
 
 Letter from General Gordon to the Honourable the Sheikh Abderrahh- 
 man en Najoomi. 
 
 Yesterday we wrote to you (as to) the arrival of the Eng- 
 lish troops in the neighbourhood of Merowe, and to-day also 
 we have received letters from the troops, and herewith we 
 send you a specimen of the correspondence ; and although it 
 is very minute, we have read it with a magnifying glass. But 
 you must open your eye:? well that you may yourselves see its 
 minute letters. English troops have arrived in the neigh- 
 bourhood of Merowe ; ten regiments, infantry, cavalry, and 
 artillery, and the rest are behind them in Dongola and Wady 
 Haifa. (We are informed) that the Mudir of Dongola has 
 killed the Fakir (Theologian), Ahhmed el Huda, and the She-
 
 APPENDICES. 397 
 
 reef Mahmood, wbo is the uncle of Mahomed Achmed, sent 
 from Kordofan. Every one of their host was destroyed. 
 Other information has reached us by special messenger from 
 Berber, that our steamers have entered and are awaiting the 
 arrival of the army. 
 
 Before now we announced in one of our proclamations issued 
 to the inhabitants after our arrival, that we had rejjeatedly 
 advised the people to give up (their rebellion) but they did 
 not return (to allegiance) and that we should be obliged to 
 bring English troops to this country to chastise the rebellious 
 and bring them to submission. But I suppose you considered 
 these words to be lies until this army arrived near to Berber, 
 (an army) which no strength of theirs could withstand. 
 
 A few days ago we sent you notice to go to Kordofan and 
 remain there, and that we would make you one of the Sultans 
 of the West. You had better listen to this advice and go with 
 your men and be happy Avith them, obeying your Sultan Ma- 
 homed Achmed. 
 
 Information has reached us that you have made contracts 
 with the Arab sheikhs for bringing provisions upon their cam- 
 els, (for) about 1000 camels, and (that) the sheikhs received 
 from you a quantity of ready money for buying provisions, and 
 ran away from you. All the Soudan soldiers hate you and 
 have come to us ; but if we are bad, as you imagine, these 
 soldiers would not have followed us. 
 
 Mahomed Achmed informs us that he ordered Aboo Kerjah 
 to convert us to his faith, but this fellow understands drinking 
 Merissa ((. e. date-beer) better than any one else, and we think 
 he may teach us Merissa-drinking. 
 
 Please God, the soap we sent yesterday to Sheikh Abd-el- 
 Kader, to wash his face with, may be found like (as good as) 
 the towel which Mahomed Achmed sent to Mr. Costi (Cuzzi) 
 Moosa to wipe his face with.^^ 
 
 The guns we fired yesterday were (in rejoicing at) news of 
 the coming army. 
 
 Therefore the first and best thing (for you to do) is to con- 
 sider the news sent you herein enclosed, and arise and go back 
 to your places with whatever you have of guns and such like, 
 as the air is bad here. But Sheikh Ibrahim Abd-el-Kader may 
 remain in his place, as his home is in the neighbourhood of 
 Kalakla, and as he is one of our friends and an owner of crops 
 in this district. 
 
 But if you do not listen to this advice, one of these days 
 you will arise in the morning and find yourselves in a tremen- 
 dous earthquake.^^ 
 
 14 Query — Does this refer to a veil such as dervishes wear, which was 
 sent to a renegade by the Mahdi ? 
 
 15 Reference is here made to the earthquake mentioned in a former 
 letter, as being prepared by Gordon.
 
 398 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNALS. 
 
 As for the cannon you fired at us yesterday, they killed 
 about 20,000 of our soldiers, so tliat we were altogether tired 
 out with burying the dead, and this is as war should be. 
 
 After writing this we received your last letter, and as you 
 do not accept the advice, remain where you are with Sheikh 
 Abd-el-Kader as jou now are. 
 
 Gordon Pasha in Kartoum. (Signed) C. G. Gordon. 
 
 Date 2nd Zu'I Hejjeh, 1301. 
 Aug. 24, 1884. 
 
 (On the back of General Gordon's letter.) 
 Reply to General Gordon. 
 
 In the name of God the Merciful and the Compassionate. 
 
 From Abderrahhman en Najoomi and Abdallah en Noor to 
 Gordon. 
 
 Yesterday we sent you an answer to your letter brought to 
 us by your messenger, who is going back, in whicli we told you 
 to come out of the fortress to meet us in fight before the arri- 
 val of the standards (troops) sent to us from the Imam Ma- 
 homed, the Mahdi, on whom be peace, as we are now near to 
 you — within eyesight. And (as) probably you will not have 
 another opportunity after these two days. But you have not 
 done so. 
 
 Even to-day we have received your letter and proclamation, 
 both sealed and signed by you, which are not satisfactorj' an- 
 swers to our letter. But you put in them nonsense — like unto 
 dreams. 
 
 But we are better informed than you ; for the hands 
 (power) of the Mahdi, on whom be peace, are over the whole 
 world ; and he receives news from all parts thereof. 
 
 We are not inside a fortress listening to the sayings of 
 hypocrites, who run away like slaves, and the like — on whose 
 authority you issue lying and deceitful proclamations. 
 
 You mention in your answer '^^ that you have received a 
 letter from the troops ; but on looking at it we find (that it is) 
 a proclamation from you, with your own seal, and not from 
 the army. 
 
 How can you say so, and contradict yourself ? From this 
 we learn that all your sayings are lies. And after this let 
 there be no more letters or communications between us and 
 you ; but (only) war. 
 
 The proclamation is enclosed (returned). 
 
 (Signed) Abderrahhman kn Najoomi, 
 Abdallah en Noor. 
 [This letter is without any of the usual forms of civility at the top, and. 
 is addressed simply "To Gordon," without any title, and on the back of 
 his own letter. It is also written high up, near the top of the sheet, as 
 from a superior to one greatly his inferior.] 
 
 18 Evidently a wrong enclosure had been put iu by General Gordon.
 
 APPENDICES. 399 
 
 APPENDIX N. 
 
 Letter from Lieut. -Colonel Stewart, C. M. G., to General Gordon. 
 Island of El Hassa Ileya, 4 miles scntli of Berber, 
 
 14th September, 1884. 
 My dear General, 
 
 You will no doubt be surprised at our not having yet 
 passed Berber, but the fact is, we had several vicissitudes the 
 first couple of days. You know already what happened the 
 first day, how, through tlie ignorance of the captain and the 
 Reis, we ran into the bank and damaged our wheel. The 
 second day the captain ran us on to a mud bank, where we 
 stuck for four hours, and were with difiiculty got off by the 
 Saphia. Tliis was too much for my patience. I am sorry to 
 say I lost my temper and rather severely handled the individ- 
 ual, turned him out, and put the second in command ; on the 
 11th we passed safely through the Shoboloha defile. We saw 
 the broken end of the telegraph cable which is to the south of 
 the defile. Anchored for the night opjiosite the village of Oni 
 Ghirka, and on the right bank, at a small cultivated island 
 inhabited by Shaggych, whose chief is Bab Bekr el Mek, a 
 brother of Cassim el Mousse. His people received us very 
 well ; supplied us with all the wood they could get. The chief 
 came on board, complained greatly of the dervishes, but said, 
 with the exception of the Shaggychs, all the tribes were wholly 
 with the Mahdi. I enclose a letter which he has written you. 
 He begs j'ou will send soldiers, rifles, etc., when he will openly 
 declare himself for the Government. So far as I am able to 
 judge, the Shaggyehs are strong for the Government. At the 
 Shaggyeh villages we passed, the people all showed their joy 
 at our appearance by dancing and shouting. The villages 
 were all along the right bank. The left bank was sullen, if 
 not openly hostile. Bab Bekr reported that a boat full of 
 dervishes had been recently up the river, collecting tithes ; 
 the Fascher steamer also appears to come up now and then. 
 The Arabs also appear to have received news of our expedi- 
 tion. During that night war drums were being beaten on the 
 left bank. On the 12th we received some shots from the left 
 bank, and about mid-day halted at a Shaggyeh island for an 
 hour or so, where we got some wood. The people were again 
 friendly. Beyond this island we got into the Djaalen country. 
 Passed Metemma, where we saw crowds of people and several 
 flags ; were fired on, but distance too great to do any harm. 
 Soon after reached Shendy. Here we were also fired on. 
 The Government house has been loop-holed, and there is a 
 small breast- work wall in front of it. The Saphia threw 
 a couple of shells into the town. Saw a man with a letter 
 making signs to us, so stopped a little below the town, but he 
 did not come on. Halted again at an island and looted the 
 village on it ; killed a lot of cattle and pulled the houses and
 
 400 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNALS. 
 
 Sakkeyes clown. We were again fired on from the left bank, 
 and the war drums were beaten all night. On the 13th we 
 found both banks of the river openly hostile. Close to the 
 low hills of Om Ali, on the right bank, we saw a gathering of 
 horse and foot ; fired at them and knocked over a horseman. 
 Below this point we had to hug the right bank very closely, 
 and some Arabs turned out, ran alongside the steamer, waving 
 swords and lances. We could have knocked them over with 
 the greatest ease, but refrained, as they were so plucky. In 
 the afternoon looted a boat going up with sugar. Halted on 
 right bank about an hour and a half above El Dnem. War 
 drums going on all night. On the 14th we spent the day de- 
 stroying Sakkeyes in a systematic manner, taking them one 
 after another. They gave us a fine supply of wood, without 
 which it would be absurd to go on to Berber. Should think 
 we have destroyed fifteen to twenty Sakkeyers. This evening, 
 when halted, have noticed a number of horse and foot come 
 from the north to the village opposite on right bank. After 
 looking at us for some time they retired, apparently in the di- 
 rection of Damr. I suppose they came to reconnoitre, and 
 perhaps to attack us Avhile destroying Sakkeyes. To-morrow 
 we shall start before daybreak, and the steamers will escort iis 
 to the other side of Berber. I think everything now is in fair 
 working train, and am sanguine of getting through all right. 
 
 At the village of Bab Bekr, an Egyptian soldier came on 
 board who had belonged to the Berber garrison. He had 
 been sold for fourteen dollars to a certain sheikh, who is said 
 to have a lot more of his comrades. I shall send him on as 
 baksheesh to the Khedive. So far as I am able to judge, with 
 the exception of the Shaggyeh, the whole country is with the 
 Arabs ; have no certain news about Dongola, beyond that the 
 garrison is strong. Some have told us there is a large Egyp- 
 tian force there, but others appear to have no knowledge of it. 
 Cannot say much in favor of the men on Sapliia and Mansow- 
 rah. They will think of nothing but loot, will not work, and 
 scatter about in the most dangerous way. Omar Bey appears 
 to have little control over them. I must, however, say that 
 both he and the steamer captain have done everything in their 
 power to assist me, and more especially the captain of the 
 Mansowrah. 
 
 Both Herbin, myself, and Power, wish to be remembered to 
 you. You may depend upon it that I shall do everything in my 
 power to assist you. Thanking you for the very great kindness 
 with which you have overlooked my shortcomings, and pi*aying 
 that the blessing of the Almighty may abide with you, 
 I remain, my dear General, 
 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 O. H. Stewart. 
 
 P. S. — How I wish you were with us.
 
 APPENDICES. 401 
 
 I have advised Omar Bey, on account of the very indifferent 
 quality of his troops, who are no better tlian an armed mob, 
 to be very careful how he lets them land anywhere. He tells 
 me he has now fuel sufficient to remain two days at Berber, 
 and steam again some distance iip the river, and that he does 
 not intend to allow them to land. I confess I think he shows 
 his discretion. The incident I mentioned of the Arabs run- 
 ning alongside our steamer and defying us with sword and 
 lance, impressed me vividly with their daring and reckless- 
 ness. I am afraid our miserable troops would be scattered as 
 chaff before the wind by tliem. As far as Shendy you may 
 consider the right bank, if not wholly friendly, is not at any 
 rate openly hostile. 
 
 With that exception the whole country, so far as I have 
 seen, is hostile. The Djaalen have, I am afraid, gone over 
 heart and soul to the Arabs. All our successes and failures 
 are kuowu everywhere. Mahomet Ali Pasha's defeat is per- 
 haps exaggerated. 
 
 I forgot to mention that the country is in fine cultivation, 
 and the people working away at their irrigation as if nothing 
 was the matter. South of Shendy on right bank they did not 
 run away at our approach, and even north of that place some 
 few remained and looked at us unconcernedly. Mos^, however, 
 north of Shendy, ran away, or fired at us. 
 
 Letter from Monsieur Herbhi, the French Consul, to General Gordon. 
 
 15 Septembre, 1884. 
 MON GiixifRAL, 
 
 Avant dc passer Berber permettez moi de vous remer- 
 cier encore mille fois de toutes les bontes que vous avez eus 
 pour moi et de vous affirmer que je n'oublierai jamais le 
 charmant accueil que le Consiil de France a trouve aupres du 
 "O Komudar," M. Herbin — aupres du Geue'ral Gordon. 
 
 Malgre les ennuis que vous a cause Mahomet Achmet, je 
 ne regretterai pas je vous assure mon voyage a Khartoum, 
 ear j'espei'e que vous me permettrez plus tard de vous rap- 
 peler que je m'y trouvais en meme temps que vous. 
 
 Avec les vceux que je fais pour que les evenements soient 
 dirige's par Dieu dans un sens qui vous soit favorable, recevez, 
 mon General, I'assurance de mes sentiments de profond res- 
 pect et d'absolu devouement. 
 
 Herein. 
 
 P. S. Vous me pardonnerez, n'est-ce pas, de vous ecrire au 
 crayon. 
 
 A Son Excellence, 
 
 le General Gordon, 
 
 Khartoum.
 
 APPENDICES TO BOOK IV. 
 
 APPENDIX p. 
 
 Letter from Abou Gugliz to General Gordon. 
 
 In the name of God the Almighty and merciful, and praise 
 be to our Prophet Mahomet and his relations. 
 
 From the servant of (lod, IMalioniet Osman Abou Gugliz, 
 to Gordon Pasha, the beloved by England, and the Khedive, 
 may God beguide him to the true faith. Be it known to you 
 that the bearer, Fatmah, has been seen by the Fakeers, and 
 they thinlving she was a spy, they imprisoned her. It is true 
 that she is suspicious, being from the inhabitants of Kartoum. 
 When I saw her I forgave her, and have released her from 
 prison, and left it to her choice whether to remain here or go 
 back to Kartoum; she preferred going back, therefore I send 
 her ; if she is a spy ask her, and she will tell you — if not, 
 treat her as you think right. 
 
 23 El Hejali, 1301. 
 October i3tli, 1884. 
 
 Seal. 
 
 APPENDIX Q. 
 
 From Fakirs El Sayet Eltahen and Hamed Idreer to Commandant 
 Omdurman Fort. 
 
 In the name of God the Merciful and Almighty, praise be 
 to Him and our prophet. 
 
 From El Sayet Eltahen and Ilamed Idreer to Issat Osman 
 Be}', the Colonel and Commander of Omdurman Station, and 
 to all officers with him, our brethren in God. After many 
 salaams and anxiety to see you, we write as friends and com- 
 panions of the same religion, and as there has been no ani- 
 mosity or hatred existing between us up to the present day, 
 we inform you that the Government of Egypt is no more 
 muler the Turkish Empire, but the English have taken posses- 
 sion of it; and you, being Arabs and Moslems, hov.' would you 
 then remain with the infidels and join Gordon, v/ho has no one
 
 APPENDICES. 403 
 
 except slaves and other very low class of people, and Kartoum 
 being surrounded on all sides with great numbers of troops, 
 notwithstanding the approach of the Descendant of the 
 Prophet, our Iman, and the Iman of all Moslems, Mohamed 
 Achmet, the Mahdi, son of Abdullah, who has come to a very 
 short distance from Omdurman with an unlimited number of 
 troops, how Kartoum can oppose them. When we saw these 
 signs, we have hastened to write to you these lines, and ask 
 you to come with all your belongings and join our Emir, and 
 that you should be admitted into the fellowship and take 
 security. You bad better not delay until Wednesday, because 
 the Immaum is expected either to-morrow, Tuesday, or \\ ed- 
 uesday. So do not procrastinate one single day. Come before 
 the Immaum comes, and you will be well received and well 
 treated ; the same as happened to those who have come 
 before you. You are, no doubt, aware of the mercy of our 
 Emir Ahmad el Mostapha ; and the Mahdi has sent orders to 
 the said Emir, and instructed him that all who come out from 
 Kartoum or from the fort should be given security and receive 
 no harm. Therefore you should send two messengers to meet 
 us, and inform xis of your designs ; and we hope to be the 
 cause of your safety. Let it be known to you that our Emir 
 is like the ark of Noah — whoever comes to it vt'ill be saved, 
 and who refuses will perish in deluge ; so do not procrastinate, 
 not one day. The Emir was in communication with you at 
 first, to send messengers from your part, in order to come to 
 an understanding ; but now there is no time for that. One 
 single day will be enough to cause your perish. On account 
 of friendship wc send you this advice ; and God is a witness 
 of the truth of our statement. You are strangers in this 
 country, but not strangers to our religion ; but Gordon is a 
 stranger to both. Now then, would you leave us and join 
 him ? We are told that Gordon Pasha is telling you that the 
 English are coming. What if they come ? What can they 
 do to our troops ? We are A-ery certain that the English who 
 are at Suakin have all perished by Osman, and those who are 
 at Assouan are besieged there, and have fortified themselves 
 there, and given up tlie Soudan ; so all the projects of that 
 infidel are failing ; and also the steamer of Stewart Pasha and 
 the Consul was caught at the cataract, and those who were on 
 board were all killed. We send ym\ also a letter addressed to 
 Farratch Pasha el Zeeb. Should you think right, send it to 
 him ; and if you fear the result, tear it up and destroy it. 
 Leave the others and come and be saved. We are here near 
 you ; come to us secretly, and leave those infidels to their 
 fate. Send Ibrahim your servant, with those you chose to 
 send as messengers, as he is trustworthy, and we can deliver 
 any secret to him. We await your early arrival, so as to go
 
 404 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNALS. 
 
 together with Emir Mustapha, on Tuesday the 23rd El Hajah, 
 to the Mahdi. Peace be upon him. 
 
 (Signed) Hamed Idrees. 
 
 El Sayet Eltaher. 
 
 From Faki Mustapha to Commandant Omdurman Fort. 
 
 In the name of God, &c., &c. 
 
 From the servants of God, Ahmed el Mustapha, the Governor 
 of the Mahdi, on whom be peace, son of El Iffah el-Ameen to 
 Issat Osman Bey Caimmakam of the Omdurman Station, and 
 to all the officers and soldiers, may God direct the right. 
 
 Good friends, we have so often called you to God and to 
 His Apostle, and to his Mahdi (Reformer), on whom be 
 peace, in our letters, but you have neither come nor sent us 
 messengers. But inasmuch as the Fakirs performing patrol 
 duty, and the sentinels, tell us that you do not fire upon them 
 if they fire at j-ou, and if they pass close by you you do them 
 harm, hence we hope good of you, and hope of God that you 
 will be directed t® the ^Nlahdiship. And now the man of the 
 times has come, the Iman of all Moslems, the successor of 
 God's Apostle our Lord Mahomed the Mahdi [Reformer], son 
 of Abdullah, to a place near to us one day's journey from our 
 camp. Out of solicitude for God's creatures we have taken 
 the trouble to write this to you, after having done so already 
 repeatedly ; and we have sent you your Brethren, Saddeek, 
 son of Taher, and Hamid el-Shapb, in order that you should 
 meet them outside beyond the Fakeers, and agree with them 
 on the plan which shall spare your property and children, and 
 write you to us before the arrival of the Mahdi, lest you be 
 lost with those who are lost, which God forbid. You know 
 our solicitude for the people, and that we do not interfere 
 with the property or lives without legal authoritj'. There- 
 fore do not fear us, neither the Imam, on whom be peace, and 
 who is better than we and better than all God's creatures, ex- 
 cepting God's Prophet. Therefore you shall have security 
 from God, His Prophet, His Reformer [Mahdi], and security 
 from me also, who am God's humble servant. Keep this as 
 a document to witness against us, sealed with my seal, both in 
 this world and the next, that if the least harm befall you, 
 your children, or your property, if you write yourself to me 
 this night, which is the night before Tuesday the 24th el- 
 Hijjah, for fear lost you delay further you will find no other 
 opportunity of reaching us, and will perish. We have already 
 informed you that this Mahdi is the true and expected Re- 
 former, who shall possess the eastern parts and the western 
 parts of the earth. Will he therefore be too weak to conquer
 
 APPENDICES. 405 
 
 Kartoum, in which there are only base people and people 
 having no following ? And we know perfectly the mimher ; 
 and they are in want of their relief from the North, which 
 has been cut off ; and the steamer called Kartoumiah has been 
 taken, and the Fakeers have killed those -who were in it, and 
 it was sunk over against Gordon like the people of Seba. Do 
 not therefore destroy yourselves with him. Those admon- 
 ished you out of pity for you, that you may be among those 
 who are saved, not among those that perish. If you listen to 
 my words, come out to your Brethren, and afterwards come 
 to us, and we will speak about that which will be for your 
 interest, that is to say, we will agree with you on the delivery 
 of the sentinels by night, so that the morning will find the 
 Fakeers there, and will find you with your property with your 
 Brethren here in the camp, and to-morrow we will meet the 
 Imam near here, and you will have saved yourselves. But if 
 you reject our words you will rue it, and I have thus admon- 
 ished you. 
 
 (Signed) Ahmad Mustapha el-Ameen. 
 
 October 13, 1884. 
 23 Hijjah, 1301. 
 
 P. S. — Herewith is a letter to Ferratch Pasha el-Zeeb, if 
 you send it by some one who will keep the secret all right. 
 But if any harm come to you therefrom, then let it alone and 
 save yourselves, and if you come to us now, and one piastre 
 of your property be lost, or one drop of your blood, I am re- 
 sponsible, for this is a document against me. Besides, Our 
 Sovereign Lord the Imam has given security to all who come 
 over to us from the people of Kartoum and from your fort, 
 and there is no fear. 
 
 [L. S.] 
 
 APPENDIX R. 
 
 Letter from Slatin Bey. 
 
 A Son Excellence Gordon Pacha, 
 
 Gouvenieur Gent^ral dii Soudan. 
 
 Excellence, 
 
 J'ai me pemii d'ecrire h votre Excellence une lettre en 
 allemande dans laquelle je vous offre mes services. J'ai ete 
 oblige d'ecrire a votre Excellence en allemande parce que on 
 a brule mon Dietionnaire francjaise crojat c'est une livre de 
 pi'iere cretienne. J'espere de trouver I'occasion de m'uni avec 
 votre Excellence et I'acceptation de mes services. J'espere 
 que vous vous portez bien et prie Dieu qui vous donne la siege. 
 Votre 
 Devoue et obeissant serviteur, 
 
 Sl.ATIN.
 
 406 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNALS. 
 
 Une de vos Sandechaque, Abdel Habin, a ecri ixne lettre ici 
 demandant le pardon, comme j'entende veulent les Scheigiues 
 qiiitte le Halfai et se nni avec les partisans du Mahdi pas par 
 I'endmitie contre votre Excellence, non seulement par peure 
 pour leurs femmes et enfants. 
 
 J'entends que votre Excellence m'ont ecri une lettre, me je 
 ne I'ai pas re9u ; on dit que le Chalifa Abdullah I'a brule. 
 
 Letter from Slatin Bey. 
 His Excellency Gordon Paslia, Governor-General of the Soudan: 
 
 Your Excellency, 
 
 I have learnt through George Calamantino, the bearer of 
 the letter from Mahomet Achmet, that your Excellency, not 
 knowing the true facts of the case, judges my proceedings and 
 capitulation disparagingly. I therefore take the liberty of 
 informing you of the true state of affairs as they are and as 
 they have been, and beg that you may form your opinion of 
 me accordingly. 
 
 Since my appointment as Governor of Darfur, I have been 
 engaged in warfare with Sultan Harouu and Dud Beuga, and 
 when the revolution, caused by Mahomet Achmet, broke out, I 
 was left in Darfur without officers ; some of them had been 
 killed, some had been dismissed by the Government, and the 
 few remaining ones were not fit to take a command. At the 
 first outbreak, even of hostilities which were simultaneous with 
 those of Achmet el Arabi in Egypt, 1 was compelled person- 
 ally to take a command. After several battles, all more or 
 less unsuccessful, the Arabian officers who bore me a grudge 
 and firmly believed in the victory of Achmet el Arabi over the 
 Europeans, gave out among the soldiers as their opinion, that 
 the cause of my defeat lay in my being a Christian. In order 
 to stifle these injurious opinions, I gave oixt that I had for 
 some years already practised the Mahomedan religion, and 
 now publicly proclaimed my conversion. By this step I had 
 regained the confidence of my soldiers, inspired them with 
 hope, had given them aJiappy confidence, uprooted malicious 
 intrigues, and conducted several successful battles, until the 
 annihilation of the army in Kordofan commanded by Hicks. 
 
 Whether by my conversion I committed a dishonourable step 
 is a matter of opinion — it was made more easy to me because 
 I had, perhaps unhappily, not received a strict religious educa- 
 tion at home. 
 
 I commanded in Dara against the tribes known to your 
 Excellency as Razagat, H. L., &c., and in spite of great loss 
 of life and want of ammunition, we were full of glad con- 
 fidence in Hicks's reserves, but after the annihilation of the 
 latter the demoralised troops refused to fight any longer. I
 
 APPENDICES. 407 
 
 had now at vnj disposal about 700 soldiers, counting sick and 
 wounded, and for each gun ten to twelve dozen cartridges. 
 Officers and men demanded capitulation, and I, standing 
 thei-e alone and a European, was compelled to follow the 
 majority and compelled to capitulate. Does your Excellency 
 believe that to me, as an Austrian officei-, the surrender was 
 easy ? It was one of the hardest days of my life. 
 
 By submission and obedieiit behaviour I have attained a 
 certain degree of confidence amongst the local magnates, and 
 have thus received permission to write to you, because they 
 are of the opinion that by these lines I am requesting your 
 Excellency to surrender. 
 
 Should your Excellency not despise my feeble services and 
 small knowledge of tactics, I beg to offer you my help, with 
 no desire for a higher post of honour, only from devotion and 
 friendship for your Excellency and the good cause. I am 
 ready with or under you, for either victory or death. My 
 few faithful ones here, my fortune, &c., all — all will I gladly 
 desert to die, if God so please, an honourable death. 
 
 Should you accept my services, I beg your Excellency to 
 write me an answer to these lines in French, but in Arabic the 
 following letter : — 
 
 " Seek to obtain the permission of Seid Mohamed Ebn Seid 
 Abdullah^ to come to Omdurman,in order to discuss with you 
 the possibility and conditions of surrender." 
 
 By showing this letter I hope to obtain pemiission and op- 
 portunity to come to Omdurman, and to unite with you. It 
 now remains with your Excellency to accept or refuse my 
 services. 
 
 May God give you the victory. 
 
 Your Excellency's 
 
 Most gratefully devoted, 
 
 Slatin. 
 
 Sandjak Saleh Bey, as well as Ata Aga and all other sheiks 
 here, assure your Excellency of their fidelity and devotion, and 
 regret the miserable circumstances which force them to remain 
 with the supporters of Mohamet Achmet until help arrives, in 
 order to preserve their wives and children. 
 
 APPENDIX S. 
 
 Lettre de Slatin Bey a Mr.HansalL 
 (Traduction fran^aise.) 
 
 Le Maigdi vient, mais il n'y a pas beaueoup de monde avec 
 lui, et si les soldats et les habitants de Kartoum sont suffissant 
 
 1 Slatin's new name.
 
 408 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNALS. 
 
 et ne partagent pas les avis des rebelles, vous n'avez rien k 
 craindre. 
 
 Faites tout ce que vous pouvez, que je remontre personnelle- 
 ment son Excellence Gordon pasha, parce que je puis lui don- 
 ner des nouvelles plus sinceres et plus exactes que ses spiones. 
 
 Avisez S. E. que, s'il accepte mes services a Kartoum, je 
 puis la annoncer toujours tout ce qu'il arriverai chez les re- 
 belles. 
 
 Mais je desire lui parler d'avance de vive voix. 
 
 Faites mes complements a tons les Europe'ens et k tous les 
 indigenes. 
 
 Si les hommes de Kartoum sont bien energique et bien 
 forts, ils doivent etre bien surs qu'ils gagneut tout ce qu'ils 
 veulent. Plut h. Dieu que je vous revoir a Omdourman ou k 
 Kartoum. Je desire beaucoup que S. Excellence me donne la 
 promesse, qu'il ne rendra pas jamais le Kartoum aux rebelles, 
 p?.rce que en ce cas je soupirai beaucoup des Arabes, qui vent 
 me tyranniser et me tuer apres. 
 
 Aussi vos soldats et les habitants de Kartoum doivent pren- 
 dre patience et attendre un et demi deux mois jusqu'ils ar- 
 rivent les secours. 
 
 II y a ici le nouvelle, que le petit bateau que vous avez en- 
 voye a Dongola est pris des rebelles k Wady Gama, mais ce 
 nouvelle n'est pas bien sur, parce que quelques autres disent 
 le contraire. 
 
 THE INSURRECTION OF THE FALSE PROPHET, 
 1881-83, TO THE DEFEAT OF HICKS'S ARMY.i 
 
 For many years the creed of Mahomed has been making 
 immense strides in Central Africa, where it seems to have a 
 peculiar fascination for the native races. The number of con- 
 verts has been estimated at from eight to twelve millions, and 
 the idea of the regeneration of Islam by force of arms has 
 gained a strong hold among them. Ou the appearance of 
 the False Prophet in the summer of 1881, thousands flocked 
 to his standard. 
 
 The person in question is a Sheikh named Mahomed Ach- 
 met, the son of a carpenter, and a native of Dongola. He 
 was born about the year 1848, and educated in a village near 
 Kartoum, where he studied religion. In 1870 he became a 
 Sheikh, and after a short stay at Kaka, near Fashoda, took up 
 his residence on the island of Abba, in the White Nile. There 
 he gradually acquired a great reputation for sanctity, and in 
 
 1 This docnment came down with the fourth Journal. It was com- 
 piled in the IiUelligence Branch, Quartermaster-General's Department 
 of the War Office.
 
 APPENDICES. 409 
 
 time assembled a considerable number of dervishes, or holy- 
 men, round him. He augmented his influence by marrying 
 daughters of the leading chiefs of the Baggara Arabs, ^ and, 
 by his power and tact, succeeded in uniting the various tribes. 
 
 In May, 1881, when living at Marabieh, near the Island of 
 Abba, he first advanced his claims to being the Messiah, or 
 Prophet foretold by Mahomed. By his followers he was 
 styled "El-Mahdi," more usually, but incorrectly, written 
 "El-Mahdi." This is an Arabic word meaning simply a 
 " Leader " or " Guide," and is not found in the Koran. In 
 the early days of Islam, it was not unfrQquently used as a 
 name or title. The notion which prevails among Moslems 
 generally, regarding the expected great "El-Mahdi," is, that 
 he will be a descendant of the Prophet, and will appear to- 
 wards the end of time to uproot \vickedness, to avenge the 
 blood of the Imams who were slain unjustly, and to establish 
 a reign of righteousness on the earth. 
 
 The Ulema^ of Kartoum did not hesitate to pronounce 
 against Mohamed Achmet, and he was likewise discredited at 
 Cairo and Constantinople, and soon became known as the 
 " False Prophet." Among many reasons for disbelief, one 
 was, that the Redeemer of the World, promised in the Koran, 
 would come from the East, and not from the West. 
 
 The intentions of Mahomed Achmet, as set forth in various 
 proclamations, were as follows : — 
 
 To gain over the whole of the Soudan to his cause, then 
 march on Egypt and overthrow the false-believing Turks, and, 
 finally, to establish the thousand years' kingdom in Mecca, and 
 convert the whole world. 
 
 The principles of his teachings were universal equality, 
 universal law and religion, and community of goods. All 
 who opposed his mission were to be destroyed, whether Chris- 
 tian, Mahomedan, or Pagan. 
 
 The religious fanaticism of the native tribes of the Soudan 
 was, however, only one of the many causes of the insurrection 
 which broke out after the appearance of the Malidi. The 
 principal one appears to have been hatred of the Government, 
 due to — 
 
 (1.) The venality of the Egyptian officials, and the op- 
 pressive and unjust manner of collecting the taxes ; 
 and especially to 
 
 2 Powerful nomad tribes inhabiting; the country west of the White 
 Nile, and southeast of Kordofau and Darfur. 
 
 3 A body corresponding to the Divines in Christendom, who are ap- 
 pealed to by the Sultan respecting the right application of precepts of 
 the Moslem faith, and their decision is known as afetua.
 
 410 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNALS. 
 
 (2.) The suppression of the slave trade. Most of the sup- 
 porters of the Mahdi, more especially the Baggara 
 tribes, owe all their wealth to the traffic in slaves, 
 which the Egyptian Government has now for many 
 years been taking measures to put an end to. 
 
 The time selected for the rising was after the garrisons of 
 the Soudan had been diminished for reasons of economy. 
 Lieut.-Colonel Stewai-t is, however, of opinion that the military 
 weakness of Egypt was not any real cause of the rebellion, as 
 he believes the troops in the Soudan would have been sufficient 
 to quell it had they been properly handled.* 
 
 In July, 1881, the attention of Raouf Pasha, the Governor- 
 General of the Soudan, was drawn to the pretensions of the 
 Mahdi ; and he sent a commission of inquiry from Kartoum 
 to interview liim, and ascertain the true state of affairs. 
 
 On their return, it was determined to send a military ex- 
 pedition to Marabieh to brmg the Mahdi to Kartoum. A 
 force of 200 men left the latter place by steamer on the 11th 
 August, reaching Djeziret Abba in 15 hours. There they dis- 
 embarked, and advanced towards the residence of the Mahdi. 
 When quite close to it, they suddenly found themselves in the 
 presence of 4,000 to 5,000 of his followers, armed with swords 
 and lances. The troops fired one volley, but were almost im- 
 mediately overpowered, and forced to retire, leaving behind 
 them 120 of their party dead, among whom were the two 
 officers. 
 
 After this, the Mahdi sent emissaries to all the neighbouring 
 chiefs, calling on them to join him. 
 
 The Governor-General, on hearing of the disaster, ordered 
 all the available troops from Kartoum, Sennaar, Fashoda, Kor- 
 dofan, and Berber, to assemble near Kawa, on the White Nile. 
 The garrisons were left so weak that hardly sufficient troops 
 remained to carry on the ordinary duties. 
 
 Great excitement prevailed in Kartoum, which had no de- 
 fences of any kind ; and the inhabitants commenced to agitate 
 for the construction of earthworks. Fears were entertained 
 that the insurrection would spread rapidly, and even that the 
 slaves, who formed more than half of the population of the 
 
 4 This opinion hardly agrees with that of a military correspondent of 
 the Times, who, writing from Kartomii, on the 2-4th July, 1883, states 
 that to preserve tranquillity at ordinary times, 9,090 troops, exclusive of 
 the garrison of Kartoum, would be necessary, even supposing the prov- 
 inces of Kordofan and Darfur to be abandoned, as has been recom- 
 mended 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 iu order, and 4,000 on the Blue Nile, be- 
 tween Kartoum and Karkoj.
 
 APPENDICES. 411 
 
 town, would rise. Many were of opinion that a large garrison 
 of Egyptian troops was absolutely necessary to ensure safety. 
 
 By the end of August, 1881, 1,400 troops were concentrated 
 near Kawa. There they remained idle for more than a month, 
 and then dispersed to their quarters without having made the 
 slightest attempt to follow the Mahdi, who had retreated into 
 the mountainous district of Takalla.^ It is probable that, had 
 he been resolutely attacked, he would have been defeated, his 
 followers would have deserted him, and the rebellion, with all 
 its disastrous consequences, would have been crushed. 
 
 Rashid Bey, the Mudir of Faslioda, tvnce. asked to be al- 
 lowed to march against the Mahdi, but on both occasions 
 permission was refused. At length, acting on his own respon- 
 sibility, he set out with 400 regular soldiers, and 100 Shilluk 
 negroes, led by their chief Kaikun, and after a four days' 
 march reached the camp of the Mahdi, on the mountain of 
 Gadir,^ on the 8th December. In the fight which ensued, 
 Rashid Bey and the greater part of his troops, including the 
 Shilluk Chieftain, were cut down by the Baggara horsemen. 
 But few escaped to carry the news of the defeat to Fashoda. 
 A large quantity of rifles, ammunition, and stores fell into the 
 hands of the Mahdi. 
 
 Great fears for the safety of Fashoda were entertained at 
 Kartoum, and 200 soldiers were immediately sent there by 
 steamer. 
 
 It was becoming more evident every day that a regidar 
 campaign would be necessary to quell the rebellion, and that 
 reinforcements of men and materiel were absolutely neces- 
 sary. Large numbers of irregular troops from the Sliaikiyeh,'' 
 Dongola, and Berber districts were enrolled, and armed at 
 Kartoum. Nubir Yussuf Pasha, who had formerly seen ser- 
 vice under Gessi Pasha, ^ was put in command of them. On 
 the 15th March he left Kartovmi with a force 4,000 strong, to 
 operate against the rebels in the Shilluk country, but by the 
 time he reached Kawa, several hundreds of the irregular 
 troops had already deserted, and gone over to the enemy, and 
 he remained there with the rest of his force inactive for sev- 
 eral weeks. 
 
 Raouf Pasha, the Governor-General of the Soudan, was re- 
 called to Egypt on the 4th March, and Abdel Kader Pasha 
 was appointed to succeed him. Pending the arrival of the lat- 
 ter, Giegler Pasha assumed temporary charge of the Soudan. 
 
 s South of Kordofan. This district is principally inhabited by negro 
 tribes, with a king of their own, nominally subject to Kordofan. 
 About 150 miles northwest of Kaka on the White Nile. 
 
 7 A tribe above Korti, on the left bank of the Nile. 
 
 8 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-Ghazal province.
 
 412 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNALS. 
 
 Taking advantage of the concentration at Kawa, the rebels 
 attempted to make themselves masters of the district of Sen- 
 naar, and had many minor successes. 
 
 On the 6th April, the garrison of the town of Sennaar at- 
 tacked a large force of Arabs, led by a nephew of the Mahdi, 
 who were encamped in the neighbourhood, but the attack was 
 repulsed, and the Egji^tian troops, ha\'iug suffered great loss, 
 retreated to the town, and shut themselves up in the Govern- 
 ment buildings, which they succeeded in defending. 
 
 They were followed by the rebels, and for three days the 
 greater part of the town was given ujj to murder, plunder, 
 and fire. Many of the inhabitants, as well as 14 foreign mer- 
 chants, 9 officers, and more than 100 soldiers, were killed. 
 The losses of the rebels were also very considerable. As soon 
 as the news reached Kartomn, reinforcements were ordered to 
 Sennaar from Kalabat,^ Katarif,i° and Kawa. On the arrival 
 of a detachment from the last-mentioned place, the rebels re- 
 tired towards Karkoj,i^ which had already been some time in 
 their hands. 
 
 About this time the Shilluks ^^ were reported to be in revolt, 
 and the news from Darfur >vas far from re-assuring. The in- 
 surrection appeared to be gaining ground in every direction, 
 and the position of the Government was becoming most critical. 
 
 On the loth April a detachment of 200 troops left Kartoum, 
 and proceeded up the western bank of the Blue Nile. About 
 the same time some Bashi-Bazuks, under Ali Kashef, arrived 
 at Abou-Haraz (at the junction of the Blue Nile and the Ra- 
 had) from Katarif, to act on the eastern baidf of the Blue Nile 
 in conjunction with several thousand Shukuriyeh,^^ under the 
 Sheikh Aud-el-Kerim Bej*. By operating on both flanks, 
 hopes were entertained of speedily restoring tranquillity in the 
 Province of Sennaar. No engagement of importance took 
 place till the end of the month, when 150 Egyptian troops 
 were cut to pieces by the rebels near Mesalameh. 
 
 During April the Mahdi with the bulk of his followers still 
 remained on the mountain of Gadir. 
 
 News received from Kordofan stated that 15 soldiers at the 
 frontier post of Abu Haraz (west of El-Obeyed ^'* on the way 
 to Shaka '^^) had been killed, and that 150 soldiers stationed in 
 
 9 A district on the Abyssinian frontier near the sources of the Atbara. 
 1" Sometimes called Suk-abu-Sin. 
 
 11 Above Sennaar on the Blue Nile. 
 
 12 A negro tribe, numbering nearh^ a million souls, inhabiting the 
 banks of the White Nile for 200 miles northwards from the mouth of the 
 Ghazal river. 
 
 13 A powerful Arab tribe, living in the country between the Atbara 
 and Kartoum. 
 
 14 Capital of Kordofan. 
 
 15 A large town in the south of Darfur.
 
 APPENDICES. 413 
 
 Nuba,^® for the suppression of the slave trade, had been re- 
 called to El-Obeyed. The inhabitants of the last-mentioned 
 place were arming themselves, and constructing entrench- 
 ments. Six thousand rebels were reported to be encamped in 
 the neighbourhood, and an attack was expected. 
 
 By the end of April a considei'able force had been collected 
 on the Blue Nile, and Giegler Pasha placed himself at the 
 head of it. On the 3rd May he attacked the nephew of the 
 Mahdi, Sherif Ahmed Taha, near Abou Haraz (on the Blue 
 Nile). The fight was obstinate, and the troops made but lit- 
 tle progress till Sheikh Aud-el-Kerim Bey came to his assis- 
 tance with a large body of Shukuriyeh, 2,000 of whom were 
 mounted, and clad in armour. 
 
 The rebels were at length overpowered. The Shei-if was 
 amongst the slain, and his head was sent to Kartoum, and 
 publicly exposed. In the telegrams announcing the victory, 
 Giegler Pasha made no mention of the assistance he had re- 
 ceived from the Shukuriyeh, but spoke only of the bravery of 
 the Khedivial troops. 
 
 On the 25th May Giegler Pasha appears to have gained 
 another victory over the rebels in the neighbourhood of Sen- 
 naar, in which 800 of them, including their chief, were killed. 
 
 Abdel Kader Pasha reached Kartoum on the 11th May, and 
 assumed the duties of Governor-General of the Soudan. 
 
 On the 16th May the tribe of Hassaniyeh Arabs, li\Tng 
 along the road from Kartoum to Kordofan, having been re- 
 ported to be in revolt, 200 soldiers were sent to Tur-el-Hadra, 
 on the White Nile. They were to be followed by 600 more. 
 
 Communication with Darfur, Sennaar, and Fazokl was in- 
 terrupted. 
 
 At Kartoum the formation of irregular regiments of Shag- 
 gyeh and Dongolese was being actively pushed forward. Re- 
 inforcements were coming in from Berber, and were mostly 
 sent on to Kordofan, where great insecurity prevailed. Large 
 quantities of warlike stores and some guns were reported to 
 have reached Berber from Cairo. 
 
 On the 27th May Rashid Pasha, Chief of the Military Posts 
 along the Abyssinian frontier, reached Kartoum, and left on 
 the 3rd June for Kordofan, whither more than 1,000 troops 
 had already preceded him. It was supposed that he was to be 
 appointed Hokmdar of Darfur, Kordofan, and Dongola. 
 
 Of the doings of the Mahdi, and the state of affairs in Dar- 
 fur, there was no news. 
 
 The Mudirieh of Sennaar was still far from being pacified, 
 and, on the 9th June, a force of 20,000 rebels was reported to 
 
 It* A district south of Kordofan.
 
 414 GENERAL GORDONS JOURNALS. 
 
 be a day's march from the town of that name. The insurrec- 
 tion was also reported to be spreading to the districts south of 
 Karkoj. 
 
 Towards the end of May Yussuf Pasha, who had done little 
 or nothing since March, was ordered to advance from Kawa 
 against the Mahdi, still supposed to be somewhere near the 
 momitam of Gadir. After great delays he set out with a large 
 disorganized force of several thousand men and swarms of 
 camp followers. The rains had begun, and progress was 
 slow. On the 7th June he was face to face with the rebels in 
 a densely wooded country. A seriba (or stockade of prickly 
 shrubs) was commenced, and the troops were formed up in- 
 side it in a hollow square. The rebels, however, broke in 
 upon them, and defeated and utterly routed the whole force. 
 This crushing defeat gave a fresh impetus to the insurrection. 
 
 On the 13th June 400 men were sent by steamer to re- 
 inforce the garrison of Fashoda, and on the 29th a battalion, 
 which had arrived at Kartoum from Senheit,^'^ was also sent 
 on there. These reinforcements were placed under the com- 
 mand of Rashid Pasha, whose orders had been altered, and 
 who had only accompanied the troops for Kordofau as far as 
 Tur-el-Hadra. 
 
 News from Darfur was scant and unreliable. It was 
 rumoured that an attack on Omohangah on the 17th June had 
 been repulsed ; but that towards Shaka an Egyptian force of 
 1,000 men had been almost annihilated on the 20th Jidy. 
 
 In Kordofau the rebels attacked Bara ^^ on the 28th June, 
 but were repulsed, it is said, with a loss of 32,000 men. At 
 the same time large bands infested the neighborliood of El 
 Obeyed, ana wacer, fuel, and grain were already reported to 
 be scarce in that town. 
 
 Early in July the insurrection was rumoured to have spread 
 to the provinces of Bahr-el-Ghazel, Shaka, and the Equator, 
 but the reports turned out to be exaggerated, and the move- 
 ment never obtained any hold in those parts. 
 
 Towards the end of June the works of defence for the 
 protection of Kartoum were commenced to the south of the 
 town. It began to appear doubtful whether the irregular 
 troops would be able to make head against the rebellion, and 
 reinforcements from Cairo were not arriving. It was then 
 resolved to form negro battalions, and every slave-owner in 
 Kartoum was called upon to give up a certain number of 
 slaves for the purpose. By this means it was estimated that 
 2,000 troops could be obtained. The same system had been 
 
 i'^ A district called by the Abysrians Bogos, on the road between 
 Kassala and Massowah. 
 
 18 A pretty town, with a good supply of water, and surrounded by 
 excellent gardens.
 
 APPENDICES. 415 
 
 followed two years before, during the mobilization of the 
 army for operations against Abyssinia. It had the double 
 advantage of increasing the troops, and diminishing the num- 
 ber of slaves, who it was feared might revolt. 
 
 The foreign inhabitants, having no slaves, decided to give 
 assistance in kind, and sent 525 ardebs ^^ of dhoora,'^'' worth 
 360 pounds sterling, towards the sustenance of these newly 
 raised battalions. 
 
 In August a state of siege was proclaimed in Kartoum. 
 Five forts had been constructed, each armed with one gun. 
 The town was divided into four military sections, and pickets 
 patrolled the streets both day and night. A rising in the town 
 was expected, simultaneously with an attack from without. 
 
 As a further protection, it was decided to cut a canal south 
 of the town, joining the two branches of the Nile, but the 
 commencement of this work appears to have been delayed 
 till November. 
 
 The Kababish Arabs, an important tribe occupying a large 
 tract of country between Kordofan and Dongola, were in 
 revolt, and a large force of them were menacingly encamped 
 within a day's march of Kartoum. 
 
 During July and August many minor engagements were 
 fought upon the lines of communication between the White 
 Nile and Kordofan, which almost always resulted in favour 
 of the rebels. The commercial town of Shatt, on the road 
 from Duem, on the White Nile, to El Obeyed, was totally 
 destroyed by them, the male population was put to the sword, 
 and the women and children were carried off into captivity. 
 
 In the beginning of August the insurgent forces were 
 divided into three principal groups : — 
 
 The Mahdi, with the bulk of his forces, was still on the 
 mountain of Gadir, in the Takalla district ; a second army 
 was wasting Kordofan, and a third stretched along the White 
 Nile from Duem to Djezirit Abba, on the western bank, and 
 from Kawa to Marabieh on the eastern. 
 
 On the 19th August the rebels were defeated near Bara, 
 and El Obeyed was subsequently revictualled. 
 
 The rebels operating along the western bank of the White 
 Nile, under Ahmed Woad-el-Makashef, were attacked by the 
 Egyptian troops near Duem on the 28tli of August, and 
 routed, leaving 3,500 dead on the field of battle. This 
 defeat frustrated the projected march on Kartoum. 
 
 After this the Mahdi took the field in person, and advanced 
 on El Obeyed, around which an earthen rampart, armed with 
 a few guns, had been thrown up. The garrison consisted of 
 
 19 One ardeb — 5 3-5 bushels. 20 ^ kjinj of maize.
 
 416 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNALS. 
 
 6,000 men, armed with Remington rifles. The rifles had 
 been sent there in June by Abdel Kader Pasha, in anticipation 
 of a siege. 
 
 The rebels were armed with spears and matchlocks. 
 
 On the 8th of September the Mahdi made a desperate 
 assault on the town, but was repulsed with great slaughter, 
 his losses being reported to be from 12,000 to 15,000 killed, 
 while those of the garrison are put down at 288. Two 
 brothers of the Mahdi and several insurgent chiefs were 
 among the slain. The attack was repeated on the 11th and 
 14th September, but on both occasions without success. The 
 rebels fought with the greatest fury, quite regardless of death. 
 Their losses in the three assaults are said to have reached the 
 enormous total of 40,000.21 
 
 In presence of the disaffection of many of the regular 
 troops, the Governor-General of the Soudan issued an appeal 
 to the patriotism of those of the Shukuriyeh, Dabaiua, and 
 Kababish tribes who still remained loyal, urging them to take 
 the field against the rebels, and promising the remission of 
 one year's taxes. He further undertook to pay £2 for every 
 dervish (as the followers of Mahdi were called) captured, 
 dead or alive, and £18 for every chief. 
 
 All booty was to remain the property of the captors. The 
 result was that shortly afterwards several thousand volun- 
 teers joined the troops at Kawa. 
 
 On the 3rd September, 300 negro recruits reached Kartoum 
 from Lardo in the Equatorial provinces, and these were 
 shortly followed by 1,100 Bazingers (untrained soldiers from 
 Dar-Fertit ^-), sent by the Mudir of the Bahr-el-Ghazel 
 district. 
 
 A relief column of two battalions of regular troops and 850 
 Bashi Bazouks, altogether 3,000 strong, under Ali Bey Satfi, 
 set out from Duem towards the end of September, to attempt 
 to raise the siege of Bara. It suffered terrible privations on 
 the way, the rebels having filled in all the wells along the 
 road between Abu Shoka and Bara (seven days' march). 
 The troops had almost nothing but the juice of wild melons 
 and dhoora stalks to quench their thu'st. They were con- 
 tinually hai'assed by the enemy, but were not attacked in 
 force till they approached El Kona, when Ali Satfi Bey and 
 
 21 The information concerning the events of the rebellion up to the 
 arrival of Lieut. -Colonel Stewart at Kartoum is derived ahnost 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. 
 
 22 South of the country of the Baggara Arabs, and west of Bahr-el- 
 Ghazel.
 
 APPENDICES. 417 
 
 all the senior officers were killed. The losses of the Egyp- 
 tians amounted to 1,100, besides 1,150 rifles and a large 
 quantity of stores and ammunition. The remainder of the 
 troops were at length rallied by a eaptaki, and succeeded in 
 driving off the enemy. They then continued the march to 
 Bai-a, and were met some distance from the town by the 
 garrison, which had come out to their assistance. The Mahdi 
 was then encamped at a water station in the neighbourhood of 
 Bara. On the 25th October the garrison made a sortie, and 
 attacked and defeated him, but subsequently retired within 
 the entrenchments. 
 
 After the repulses at El Obeyed and Bara, the Mahdi was 
 deserted by many of his followers, and his forces in Kordofan 
 appear to have been quite shattered for the time. So much 
 was the danger for Kordofan thought to be over, that, when 
 the Mudir of Darfur appeared at Omchanga about the end of 
 October with a considerable armed force, his proffered assist- 
 ance was declined. 
 
 A report having reached Kartoum that the above-mentioned 
 relief coliunn had been totally destroyed, the Governor-General 
 telegraphed to Cairo that he must have reinforcements of at 
 least 10,000 men. He stated that ^vithout a large force at his 
 disposal the insurrection would spread through all parts of the 
 Soudan, and that then the pacification of the country would 
 require an army of at least four times the strength of that for 
 which he asked. 
 
 During Arabi's short tenure of power, he had but little time 
 to devote to the affairs of the Soudan, and no reinforcements 
 were sent there ; in fact, orders were actually given for some 
 of the troops to be withdrawn from there to Egypt, to assist in 
 the war against the English. 
 
 After the occupation of Cairo, the suppression of the rebel- 
 lion in the Soudan was one of the first questions to occupy the 
 attention of the Government of the Khedive. Various plans 
 were suggested, and it was at length decided, after the receipt 
 of the previously-mentioned telegram from Abdel Kader 
 Pasha, to enlist about 10,000 officers and men Avho had fought 
 under Arabi for service in the Soudan. At the request of the 
 Khedive, several English officers were ajjpointed to the staff of 
 this force. 
 
 By the beginning of November between two and three thou- 
 sand troops had already been concentrated at the "Barrage" 
 on the Nile near Cairo, and were being equi2)ped for the expe- 
 dition. 
 
 The first detachment, 1,000 strong, left Suez for Suakin, 
 whence they were to march to Berber on the 14th November. 
 
 Desertions from the depot at the " Barrage " were very
 
 418 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNALS. 
 
 frequent. They were due to a rumour among the soldiers 
 that they were to be transported to the Soudan as prisoners. 
 The arms and ammunition required for the expedition were 
 forwarded to Suakin, separately from the troops, as a measure 
 of precaution. 
 
 On the 12th December 1,500 troops left Cairo for the Sou- 
 dan, bringing up the total contingent already sent to 5,000. 
 
 Thanks to the energy of Al-ed-Deen Pasha, Governor of 
 the Red Sea provinces, steps were taken at Suakin for the 
 speedy despatch of the reinforcements as soon as they arrived 
 from Suez. No delays occurred, the necessai-y supply of 
 camels for the transport of baggage and stores having always 
 been prepared beforehand. Throughout the revolt of Arabi, 
 Al-ed-Deen Pasha had remained loyal, and had inspired such 
 respect for the Khedive that even natives, who may have enter- 
 tained sympathy with the rebellious movement, did not dare 
 to commit any overt act of hostility, and thus public order and 
 tranquillity were never for a moiuent disturbed in the provinces 
 over which he was Governor. 
 
 By the 9th January, 1883, the arrivals of soldiers at tlie 
 depot at the " Barrage " had reached 9,500. The departures 
 were already 7,700. They included 100 dismounted cavalry, 
 100 gunners, and nine battalions of infantry, formed into three 
 regiments. The 1st Battalion of the 4th Regiment was on 
 the point of leaving. 
 
 By the middle of February the last of these reinforcements 
 for the Soudan had left Egypt. 
 
 About the 12tli November, 1882, a rebel Sheikh attacked 
 Duem, but he was defeated and captured, and subsequently 
 hanged at Kartoum. 
 
 On the loth November the long projected canal south of 
 Kartoum was commenced, eight hundred to a thousand yards 
 in front of the town. Its dimensions are as follows : length, 
 when the rivers are in flood, 5,900 yards ; when at low water, 
 6,700 ; depth of ditch, 8 feet ; mdth at top, 17 feet ; at bottom, 
 10 feet ; slopes steep ; width of parapet at bottom, 20 feet ; 
 at top, 14 feet ; height, 7 feet. The principal defects of the 
 parapet are its great length, and the absence of flanking de- 
 fence. The idea of constructing a defensive canal, and turning 
 Kartoum into an island, originated with Musa Pasha in 1864. 
 
 The garrison of El Obeyed was reported to be still fairly 
 well supplied with food on the 12th December, and to be in 
 good spirits. A few days previously it had sallied out and 
 attacked Sheikh Mennoo, the leading rebel chief in the neigh- 
 bourhood, killing about 70 of his people. 
 
 At Bara, -^ the garrison was badly off for food, and in a 
 
 23Bara is due north of Obeyed.
 
 APPENDICES. 419 
 
 depressed condition. Some of the irregular officers with their 
 men had deserted to the rebels. The Mahdi, with the bulk of 
 his forces, was encamped round the town. His ranks had been 
 much thinned by desertion and sickness, but, on the other hand, 
 he was gaining fresh adherents every day. For the moment 
 he had ceased to take the offensive, and was contenting him- 
 self with blockading Bara and El Obeyed, while the Makashef 
 operated with a large force on the Nile. 
 
 Darfur was so far quiet, though the Mahdi was reported to 
 be doing his utmost to stir up the tribes. 
 
 On the 16th December, Lieut.-Colonel Stewart, of the 11th 
 Hussai's, arrived at Kartoum. 
 
 Owing to the absence of any trustworthy information, he 
 had been sent by the British Government to inquire into the 
 true state of affairs in the Soudan. 
 
 Two battalions of reinforcements from Egypt (the 1st and 
 2nd Battalions, 1st Regiment) reached Kartomn early in De- 
 cember, ^nd formed a camp at Omdurman on the left bank of 
 the Nile, opposite Kartoum. 
 
 Almost immediately after their arrival there were rumours 
 of fresh outbreak in the neighbourhood of Kawa, and later on, 
 in those of Sennaar and Mesalamieh on the Blue Nile. In- 
 stead of forming a relief column for Kordofan, it was deemed 
 necessary to employ these battalions first in restoring order on 
 the banks of the Blue and White Niles. The 1st Battalion 
 was sent to Shawal on the White Nile, and on the evening of 
 the 30th December the 2nd Battalion left by steamer for Me- 
 salamieh. 
 
 The Makashef, with a large force, was at Sibel threatening 
 Sennaar, and was causing a great deal of trouble. 
 
 Abdel Kader Pasha gave orders for four companies at Sen- 
 naar and the garrison of irregulars at Abut (immediately 
 north of Sibel) to make a combined attack on the last-men- 
 tioned place. It was to support this attack, which was ordered 
 for the 4th January, that the 2nd Battalion, 1st Regiment, was 
 sent to Mesalamieh. 
 
 The attack was, however, anticipated by the Makashef, who 
 took the offensive, and attacked the detached post of Abut on 
 the 31st December. He was repulsed, but succeeded in inter- 
 rupting all communication between Mesalamieh and Sennaar. 
 
 On the 1st Janviary the four companies at Sennaar left for 
 Sibel. The following day they were attacked while on the 
 march, and all but about 80 surrendered to the rebels after 
 making but little, if any, resistance. 
 
 By the beginning of Januaiy the under-mentioned reinforce- 
 ments had arrived from Egypt, viz. : infantry, 5 battalions 
 (4,170 men) ; artillery, 180 men, with 10 mountain guns and 
 10 rocket troughs ; cavalry, 97 Circassians clad in chain ar-
 
 420 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNALS. 
 
 mour. A few mules had accompanied the artillery, but there 
 were no horses with the cavalry. With the exception of the 
 two battalions which had gone to Shawal and Mesalamieh, the 
 whole of this force was encamped at Omdurman, near Kar- 
 toum. The troops were working at elementary drill and tac- 
 tics, and making some progress, but the officers were, as a 
 rule, ignorant, and incapable of grasping the meaning of the 
 simplest movement, unwilling to assume any responsibility, and 
 totally devoid of initiative. 
 
 Many of the troops had superstitious ideas regarding the 
 power of the Mahdi, and others thought that the Itliedive had 
 only sent them to the Soudan to get rid of them. 
 
 They were dressed in long white cotton shirts and native 
 cotton trousers. Most of them wore coarse leather sandals. 
 Each man had a grey overcoat and hood. The infantry were 
 all armed with Remington rifles. 
 
 The tactics of the Egyptians in the presence of the enemy 
 were to form battalion or double company squares. The troops 
 were formed in three ranks, to give them confidence. Each 
 man was provided with four or five crow's feet (iron sjjikes 
 with four points), which he was instructed to throw in front 
 of him on the approach of the enemy. The rebels usually 
 attacked in several masses. 
 
 Early in January news was received of a disaster on the 
 eastern bank of the White Nile. A detachment of 190 men 
 had been sent from the fort of Jura Hadra in a northerly 
 direction to repair the line of telegraph to Kartoum. When 
 a short distance from the fort, they were attacked bj^ some 
 rebels under Fakir Owde.'-^ The troops formed square as 
 usual, but after a sliort resistance commenced to give way, the 
 sqxiare was broken, and many were killed. Half the party, 
 however, managed to rally, and held out until a reinforcement 
 came to their assistance from Jura Hadra. 
 
 On the 2nd January, Abdel Kader Pasha left Kartoum by 
 steamer to take personal command of the troops operating 
 between the Blue and White Niles. He did not reach Mesa- 
 lamieh till the 7th, having stopped frequently on the journey to 
 interview the chiefs of the \illages on the banks of the river. 
 
 The town of Mesalamieh is six miles west of the river. On 
 arrival, the Pasha proceeded immediately to inspect the bat- 
 talion encamped there (2nd Battalion, 1st Regiment), and in- 
 formed the officers that he intended to march with as small a 
 baggage train as possible. They protested, and made all kinds 
 of difficulties, but it was finally decided that each company 
 shoidd be accompanied by four camels only. 
 
 On the 8th January, the battalion, with some irregular 
 troops under Saliha Bey, and some Shukuriyeh horsemen, 
 
 2^ The Fakirs are learned pious men. The Dervishes are their satel- 
 lites.
 
 APPENDICES. 421 
 
 started for Abut. The order of march was in company col- 
 umn Avith scouts on both flanks, and advance and rear guards. 
 The country traversed was a treeless but well-cultivated open 
 plain, with many villages and plenty of water. The crops 
 consisted chiefly of dhoora (maize) and cotton. There were 
 also many large herds of cattle, and flocks of sheep. The 
 inhabitants were very friendly, and freely supplied the troops 
 with water, and even with bread. 
 
 At 8 p. M. a halt was made at the Faulla (pond) of El- 
 Sunga. The troops bivouacked, protected by a bank which 
 had, on a previous occasion, been thrown up round the pond. 
 Ten men per company were employed to patrol during the 
 night some 500 yards from the camp. 
 
 On the 9th, the column started at 7 A. m. The order of 
 march was the same as on the preceding day. Two miles from 
 the bivouac, the village of Effena was passed. This was the 
 last inhabited village met with on the road. Further on they 
 were all deserted, the inhabitants having gone off willingly, 
 or unwillingly, to join the rebels, leaving their crops standing, 
 and ready for harvesting. 
 
 At 1.30 p. M. the village of Abut was reached. It is a small 
 military station, and had a garrison of 350 men, who were 
 encamped in a zeriba \vith trench near the well. When at- 
 tacked on the 31st December, only 150 of the garrison were 
 present ; 200 men under Osman Agha had arrived since then. 
 Two new zeribas were at once constructed, one for the regular 
 troops, and another for the irregulars. Reconnaissances were 
 pushed in all directions, but especially along the roads leading 
 to Kawa via Waliya, and to Manasra, south of Sibel. 
 
 Finding then that the quelling of the insurrection in the 
 province of Sennaar woidd be a more difficult task than he 
 had anticipated, the Pasha determined to call up the battalion 
 from Shawal,-^ and to send for another from Kartoum. 
 
 The 3rd Battalion, 1st Regiment, left Kartoum accordingly 
 on the afternoon of the 10th January, and proceeded up the 
 Blue Nile in twelve sailing boats. 
 
 On the 11th January, Abdel Kader was still at Abut. On 
 that date his intention was to await the arrival of the 3rd Bat- 
 talion, and then march on Sennaar. Reports had come in that 
 that town was hard pressed by a large body of rebels, that 
 Karkoj was again in their hands, that the tribe of Rufaa el 
 Sherk,^^ under Sheikh Sherif el Hindi, was in full revolt, and 
 the last mentioned was doing his best to induce Aud el Keriui 
 
 25 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. 
 
 26 An Arab tribe inhabiting; the country between Sennaar and Fa- 
 zokl.
 
 422 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNALS. 
 
 Bey, the powerful Sheikh of the Shukuriyeh, to join the move- 
 ment. 
 
 On the 12th, however, it was reported that the Sheikh Wad 
 el Kerif, at the head of a large force, was marching from 
 Maatiik to attack Abdel Kader, that he was forcing all the 
 men of the districts through which he passed to join him, and 
 that Fakir Moosa, who was commanding the rebels in the 
 neighborhood of Kawa, would co-operate with him. 
 
 This news compelled the Pasha to reconsider his decision, 
 and, instead of advancing on Sennaar, he resolved to await the 
 approach of the Wad el Kerif. 
 
 On the White Nile, the Hassaniyeh nomads were again 
 giving trouble. To pacify this tribe, and the villages in the 
 neighborhood of Karasah,-'^ the 1st Battalion, 2nd Regiment, 
 left Kartoum on the 16th January in two steamers, and pro- 
 ceeded up the Wliite Nile. It was accompanied by the 
 Vakeel ^^ of the Mudiriyeh and some Ulemas. These officials 
 were directed to enter into communication with the people, 
 and to try to induce them to submit quietly. The orders 
 given to the battalion were to disembark when still a little 
 north of the village, and then advance in close order. 
 
 On the 18th, the steamers reached the neighbourhood of the 
 village. Here one of the steamers ran aground in the middle 
 of the river. The other, on board of which was the Bimba- 
 slii*^ wth five companies, pushed up right abreast of the vil- 
 lage. Three companies immediately disembarked, lined a low 
 sand dyke parallel to and about 500 yards from the river, and 
 opened fire on some rebels who were about 2,000 yards off. 
 The latter advanced to the attack, but the severity of the fire 
 forced them to incline away to the right and left as they ap- 
 proached. 
 
 Three or four horsemen of the right-hand party succeeded 
 in penetrating between the dyke and the river, and fell upon 
 the two companies which had disembarked last, and were not 
 yet formed up. This was the signal for a regular panic, and 
 the flight of all the Egyptians to the river. The rebels did 
 not pursue. In the confusion the Bimbashi was killed, some 
 accounts say by his own men, others by the enemy. 
 
 The other steamer with the three remaining companies of 
 the battalion having by this time come up, a council of war 
 was held, when it was decided that the battalion was not 
 strong enough to advance, and that reinforcements of men and 
 guns from Kartoum were absolutely necessary. The rebel 
 force did not in reality exceed 400 men. 
 
 2'? Sometimes written El Gerazeh or Qurassa. A village on the right 
 bank of the White Nile. 
 2S Deputy Governor. 
 29 Major.'
 
 APPENDICES. 423 
 
 During the next few days the hattalion remained quietly on 
 board the steamers off Karasah. On the 26th January, the 
 Bimbashi of the 2nd Battalion of the regiment ari-ived from 
 Kartoum to replace the Bimbashi who had been killed. The 
 steamers were then lying about two and a half hours' march 
 from the village. An advance was ordered for 3 A. M. on the 
 27th so as to attack the village at daybreak, and take the 
 rebels by surjjrise. But on the remonstrances of nearly all the 
 officers, who said that they would certainly be killed if they 
 marched in the dark through an unknown country, the order 
 was cancelled, and that day nothing was done except a short 
 reconnaissance inland. The Bimbashi, however, decided to at- 
 tack on the 28th. After the orders were issued, five of the 
 senior officers proceeded to report themselves sick. 
 
 At 3.30 A. M. on the 28th the battalion marched off. It was 
 formed up in a square, preceded by an advance guard and 
 scouts, and at daybreak was within about 800 yards of the vil- 
 lage, from which it was separated by a long, narrow strip of 
 forest. 
 
 Two companies were ordered into the forest to reconnoitre 
 the path leading to the village, bvit the officers refused to ad- 
 vance, saying that they and their men would certainly be killed. 
 
 During the delay and discussion that followed, some sol- 
 diers, disobeying orders, fired at some cattle that were graz- 
 ing near by. This gave the alarm to the rebels, and in a few 
 minutes nine or ten horsemen appeared at the edge of the 
 wood. By galloping about and waving their swords, these men 
 engaged the attention of the troops, and gave time for the 
 removal of the women and cattle from the village. When 
 this was accomplished, the rebel foot advanced through the 
 wood, and the troops immediately began to fall back. The 
 rebels, who did not exceed 350, aud had no fire-arms, followed 
 them till within about half an hour's distance of the steamer, 
 but generally keeping out of rifle range. It is estimated that 
 about thirty of them were killed or wounded. A few hours 
 after the return of the troops to the boats, the 2nd Battalion 
 of the 2nd Regiment, as well as two guns and a rocket trough, 
 arrived from Kartoum with the Kaimakan ^^ of the regiment. 
 These reinforcements had been sent on receipt of a direct order 
 from the Khedive. 
 
 The rebels appear to have been subsequently attacked and 
 defeated, but there does not appear to be any account of the 
 engagement. 
 
 The 1st Battalion, 3rd Regiment, and 225 Bashi Bazouks, 
 without horses, arrived at Kartoum from Egypt on the 24th 
 January. 650 camels for transport purposes had already been 
 
 80 Lieutenant-Colonel.
 
 424 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNALS. 
 
 collected at Kartoum, and 400 were expected in a few days 
 from Dongola. According to the lowest estimate, 300 camels 
 per battalion would be required for the Kordofan expedition, 
 to be distributed as follows : For rations, 115 ; water, 75 ; 
 ammunition, 52 ; officers, 25 ; sick hospital, &c., 33. 
 
 On the 23rd January, Hussein Pasha Serri, the senior mili- 
 tary officer at Kartoum, received a telegram from the Khe- 
 dive ordering him to suspend all operations and to concentrate 
 all the troojjs at Kartoum, pending the arrival of some Eng- 
 lish staff officers at Cairo. The fact of the Khedive commu- 
 nicating direct with this officer instead of with Giegler Pasha, 
 the representative of Abdel Kader, caused a great deal of un- 
 pleasantness. This order was communicated to Abdel Kader, 
 then at Abut, who replied that, if he withdrew the troops to 
 Kartoum the rebellion would unquestionably extend in the 
 eastern provinces, and that, if the expedition did not soon leave 
 for Kordofan, that province would be lost, and with it Darfur. 
 
 To return to the operations of Abdel Kader. About the 
 24th January a party of rebels pillaged the village of Mau- 
 galla, which, together with some others of the south and south- 
 west of Abut, had submitted to the Government of the Khe- 
 dive. 
 
 Hearing of this, the Pasha, having been joined by the 3rd 
 Battalion, 1st Regiment, determined to advance against a large 
 body of rebels, reported to be about eight hours' march from 
 his camp. 
 
 Early on the 27th he moved towards the village of Maatiik. 
 When about three hours from it, the rebels were observed on 
 a plain on the farther side of a small wood. The troops were 
 at once halted in the open, about 500 yards from the wood, 
 and formed into square. 
 
 The rebels, after a short halt for prayer, advanced through 
 the wood, but, contrary to expectation, halted again at the near 
 edge, and ^Yad Eyoub, a revolted Beuluk Bashi of irregulars, 
 with some negroes, opened fire on the troops, killing one and 
 wounding five. The square then fired, and after some minutes 
 the rebels commenced to retire, pursued by the irregular cav- 
 alry. In this affair Faki Moosa was wounded. The losses of 
 the rebels are estimated at 600 killed and wounded. 
 
 In the retreat the rebels broke up into two parties, one, 
 under Sheikh Wad-el-Kerif, went in a southwesterly direction 
 towards Goz Abu Djuma,^^ and the other, under Faki Moosa 
 and Faki Mohammed Abu Shueb, retired to the village of 
 Baatuk on the road to Kawa. 
 
 Against the latter, the Pasha directed the whole of his 
 available cavalry and camel corps, altogether about 300 men. 
 
 31 Sometimes written Goz Aboii Goumeh.
 
 APPENDICES. 425 
 
 This force came up with the I'ebels at 3 a.m. on the 28th, and 
 totally defeated them, killing Abu Shneb. 
 
 On the 1st February Abd-el-Kader, with his two battalions, 
 reached Kawa, where he met the 1st Battalion, 1st Regiment, 
 from Shawal. On the 3rd February this force was increased 
 by the arrival of the 1st and 2nd battalions 2nd Regiment, 
 which had marched along the river bank from Karasah, per- 
 forming, according to their own account, prodigies of valour on 
 the road. 
 
 On the 3rd February Abd-el-Kader left Kawa by steamer 
 for Kartoum leaving orders — 
 
 (1.) That the three battalions of the 1st Regiment wei'C to 
 march at once to Wad el Medinet on the Blue Nile, 
 where he would joiu them about the 15th for an ad- 
 vance on Sennaar ; and 
 
 (2.) That the two battalions of the 2nd Regiment, under the 
 Kaimakan, were to attack the rebels at Abu Djuma. 
 
 Towards the end of January it was rumoured in Kartoum 
 that the Kababish Arabs had gone over to the Mahdi, or rather 
 to the Faki Mamie, who commanded the rebels in Northern 
 Kordofan. As the Kababish extend as far north as Dongola, 
 fears were entertained that the rebellion might spread to that 
 province, and early in February it was reported that the na- 
 tives about Debbeh ^^ were becoming very restless. Some 
 Bashi Bazouks were sent there to maintain order. 
 
 About the 10th February the troops in the camp at Omdur- 
 man comprised : — 
 
 4 battalions of Egyptian infantry (3,200 men) . 
 420 Bashi Bazouks. 
 1,100 Negro recruits. 
 
 90 dismounted cavalry, and a few artillerymen. 
 
 Their health was very good. 
 
 On the 11th February, a messenger arrived at Kartoum from 
 the west confirming the rumours that Bara had fallen on the 
 5th January. The garrison was said to be fairly well treated 
 by the Arabs, and only the officers were kept in confinement. 
 By this surrender 2,000 troops, besides a considerable quantity 
 of arms and ammunition, fell into the hands of the rebels. 
 
 Four days afterwards the news arrived that El Obeyed had 
 capitulated on the 17th January, and that the whole of Kordo- 
 fan was in the hands of the Mahdi. 
 
 After the repulse of the assaults on El Obeyed, in September, 
 1882, various plans were proposed for attacking the Mahdi, 
 but the Council of War was always of opinion that the troops 
 available were too few, and the garrison relapsed into a state 
 of inactivity, which continued, so far as any operations of im- 
 
 82 On the left bank of the Nile, near Old Dongola.
 
 426 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNALS. 
 
 portance are concerned, till the end of the siege. Small sor- 
 ties of two or three hundred men were, however, of frequent 
 occurrence, generally resulting in the capture of some cattle 
 and grain. 
 
 The besiegers, on their side, established themselves com- 
 fortably around the town, some availing themselves of the 
 ruined houses, and others building straw huts, and patiently 
 awaited the inevitable surrender. 
 
 Such was the attitude taken by both sides till the 13th Jan- 
 uary, by which date the supply of food was almost exhausted, 
 and everything eatable was being sold at fabulous prices. 
 
 On the 14th, the Mahdi sent letters to Mahmoud Said, the 
 Governor of the Western Soudan, and all the principal offi- 
 cers, telling them that they had held out long enough, and, if 
 they would surrender, he would guarantee the safety of their 
 lives. On the 16th, a party of rebels appeared outside the en- 
 trenchments to open negotiations for a capitulation. Mah- 
 moud Said Pasha was not present at the inter\dew which fol- 
 lowed, but the greater part of the garrison appear to have 
 agreed to the terms that were proposed. 
 
 During the night many of the garrison deserted. At day- 
 break on the 17th the insurgents advanced against the town in 
 force. The Pasha ordered what remained of the garrison to 
 fire, but the infantry refused to do so, and passed over to the 
 enemy, while the artillery fired a few salvoes in a direction that 
 could do no harm to the assailing force. TJie Pasha then un- 
 derstood that he was completely abandoned by his men, and 
 consented to surrender and make submission to the Mahdi, 
 who was then at an hour and a half's distance from the town. 
 
 On entering the town, the Mahdi proceeded immediately to 
 the principal mosque. 
 
 Mahmoud Said Pasha and All Sherif Bey, the Miulir of 
 Kordofan, were at first treated Avith consideration, but on 
 their refusal to give up their money, they were seized and im- 
 prisoned. 8,000Z. sterling in gold was found concealed in the 
 house of the former, and 7,00OL in that of the latter. 
 
 Altogether, although little or no money was found in tlie 
 public treasury, the ]\Iahdi is said to have taken more than 
 100,000/. from the officials and notables. He kept all the 
 booty for himself, and distributed none of it among his follow- 
 ers. Tliis was a source of great dissatisfaction, and subse- 
 quently caused many to waver in their allegiance. 
 
 The garrison at the time of the surrender numbered about 
 3,500. They were made to swear fidelity to the Mahdi, en- 
 listed in his service, and told oif by companies to the various 
 banners. About 0,000 Remington rifles, five gims, and one 
 rocket trough passed into the hands of the rebels. As regards
 
 APPENDICES. 427 
 
 provisions, only 200 ardebs ^^ of dhoora were found in the town. 
 Towards the end of the siege famine had prevailed, and the 
 inhabitants had kept themselves alive by chewing raw india- 
 rubber, varied with a small ration of dhoora. 
 
 All the books and Government papers were destroyed, and 
 the town was completely looted. 
 
 The Mahdi took up his residence in the Government House, 
 and appointed a Governor of the town, but did not make any 
 attempt to form a regular administration. The following is a 
 translation of a proclamation issued by him : — 
 
 " From the servant of his Lord Mohammed el Mahdi, son 
 of Said Abdallah, to all the fervent proselytes. 
 
 "We have appointed as your Prince our dear Sheik Man- 
 sour, son of Abd el hakem. Execute his orders and com- 
 mands, and follow him in the path of battle. 
 
 " He who submits to him submits to ixs ; he who disobeys 
 him disobeys us, and disobeys God Himself and His Prophet. 
 Let all show penitence before God, and abandon all bad and 
 forbidden habits, such as the degrading acts of the flesh, the 
 use of wine and tobacco, lying, bearing false witness, disobe- 
 dience to parents, brigandage, the non-restitution of goods to 
 others, the clajjping of hands, dancing, improper signs with 
 the eyes, tears and lamentations at the bed of the dead, slan- 
 derous language, calumny, and the company of strange wo- 
 men. Clothe your women in a decent way, and let them be 
 careful not to speak to unknown persons. All those who do not 
 pay attention to these principles disobey God and His Prophet, 
 and they shall be punished in accordance with the law. 
 
 " Say your prayers at the prescribed hours. 
 
 " Give the tenth part of your goods, handing it to our Prince, 
 Sheikh Mansour, in order that he may forward it to the treas- 
 ury of Islam. 
 
 " Adore God, and hate not each other, but assist each other 
 to do good." 
 
 At the bottom of this, the seal of the Mahdi was affixed. 
 
 On the 13th February, Abdel Kader Pasha left Kartoum 
 to rejoin the troops at Wad of Medinet, who had marched 
 from Kawa. He proceeded thence towards Sennaar, his force 
 consisting of the three battalions of tlie 1st Regiment, about 
 600 Bashi Bazouks, some Sakkeyer horsemen, and a few guns 
 and rocket troughs.^'* 
 
 On the 22nd February he reached Meshoa-el-Dakhin, about 
 eight hours' march from Sennaar. That evening, about 8 p.m., 
 a large body of rebels under the Makashef, who had raised 
 the siege of Sennaar, approached the camp. Some shots were 
 
 33 One arcleb = 5-| bushels. 84 Number not stated.
 
 428 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNALS. 
 
 exchanged, but the rebels, finding the soldiers on the alert, 
 retired. The following day, Friday, a halt was made, and the 
 neighbourhood was thoroughly reconnoitred. Abd el Kader 
 received a letter from the Makashef, in which, after testify- 
 ing to the di\ane mission and the invmcibility of the Mahdi, he 
 invited the Pasha to submit, saying that he had a regard for 
 him, and was anxious to spare his life and spiritual hereafter. 
 
 Early on the 24th, the march was continued. On approach- 
 ing Meshra-el-Dai, the Makashef was discovered with 10,000 
 or 12,000 followers in some bushy ground close to the river. 
 The guns and rockets at once opened fire on them. After 
 some time the rebels came out into the open and attacked the 
 troops. 
 
 They advanced with great determination, but after a severe 
 fight were dispersed and pursued by the cavalry. The engage- 
 ment lasted from 10 a. m. till 1 p. m. Of the troops 27 were 
 wounded. The rebel loss was estimated at 2,000 killed, includ- 
 ing Sheikh Woad el Kerif, of Maatuk notoriety. Many of the 
 rebels fled into the river, where they were cut down by the 
 cavahy. The Makashef succeeded in escaping. Some of the 
 rebels used fire-arms, and Abd el Kader had a narrow escape, 
 his watch-chain being broken by a bullet. 
 
 Saturday night the troops remained halted, but on Sunday 
 the 25th the march was continued to Seimaar. The inhabi- 
 tants of tlie villages along the road came in, and tendered their 
 submission. 
 
 The route between Semiaar and Kartonm, both by land and 
 water, was reported to be safe. A regular postal ser\-ice was 
 immediately re-established, and steps were taken for repairing 
 the line of telegraph. 
 
 After the defeat at Meshra-el-Dai on the 24th, the insur- 
 gents appear to have split themselves up into three bodies : 
 one under Abdul Ghaffar retired to Karkoj and joined Faki 
 Sherif ; another under the Makashef took up a position at Jebel 
 Sekhedy, about six hours west of Semiaar; and a third came 
 into Sennaar and gave themselves up. 
 
 Abd el Kader' s scouts having brought in intelligence of the 
 Makashef's whereabouts, a force of 1,200 irregulars, made up 
 of Shukuriyeh and Aburoff Arabs, under Saleh Agha, was di- 
 rected against him. An engagement took place on the 4th 
 March at Sekhedy, which resulted in the total defeat of the 
 rebels, who lost 547 killed, among whom were Sheikhs Omr 
 and Amr, brothers of the Makashef, and Sadyk, his nephew. 
 The casualties among Saleh Agha's force were only two men 
 wounded. 
 
 Abd el Kader then proposed marching south up the Blue 
 Nile, and pacifying the country as far as Karkoj, after which 
 he intended to cross the river, and advance eastward against
 
 APPENDICES, 429 
 
 the revolted Rufaa-el-Sherk and Kawakli tribes in the country 
 between the rivers Diuder and Rahad. But, as will be seen 
 further on, he was superseded before he had time to carry out 
 these plans. 
 
 On the 20th February, the Pashas Al-ed-Din and Suleiman 
 Nyasi reached Kartoum. The latter was to take command of 
 the troops, but the mission of the former was kept secret, 
 though it was rumoured that he was to be appointed Governor- 
 General of the Soudan. 
 
 On the 4th March Colonel Hicks ^^ reached Kartoum, and 
 with him the undermentioned English Officers, viz. : — Lieut.- 
 Colonel Hon. J. Colborue,^^ Lieut.-Colonel de Coetlogon,**'' 
 Major Martin,^^ Major Farquhar,^^ Captam Warner, Captain 
 Massey,*^ Captain Evans, Captain Walker,^i and Surgeon- 
 Major Rosenberg. 
 
 Colonel Hicks had been appointed Chief of the Staff of the 
 Army of the Soudan, with local rank of Major-General, but it 
 was intended that he should direct, and be responsible for, all 
 preparations and operations, — in fact, that he should in reality 
 be the Commander-in-Chief, while nominally holding a subor- 
 dinate post. 
 
 The Mahdi's movement being, at any rate ostensibly, a re- 
 ligious one, it was deemed inadvisable to place at the head of 
 the Egyptian Army of the Soudan a foreigner and a non-Mus- 
 sulman, lest the insurgent leader might make capital out of 
 this to arouse still further the fanaticism of his followers. 
 
 Suleiman Nyasi, whose military career dates back to the 
 days of Mahomet Ali and the Crimean War, was consequently 
 named to the chief command, but on the understanding that 
 he was to pay strict attention to, and carefully follow out, 
 General Hicks's instructions and plans ; but his indolence, 
 apathy, ignorance, and in many instances apparent malignity 
 and jealousy, caused him frequently to act in anything but 
 the spirit of the instructions given him at Cairo. 
 
 On the 8th March, Lieut.-Colonel Stewart left Kartoum for 
 Egypt, travelling by v/ay of Sennaar, Katarif, Kassala, and 
 Massowah. 
 
 On the 18th March, Major Farquhar, who had been on a 
 recomiaissance up the White Nile, returned to Kartoum. He 
 reported the inhabitants along the western bank of the river 
 to be hostile. 
 
 Four thousand five hundred rebels and 1,800 Baggara Arab 
 
 35 Late Bombay Staff Corps. 
 
 36 Late lltli Foot. 
 
 37 Late 70th Foot. 
 
 88 Late Captain of Baker's Horse in South Africa. 
 
 89 Late Guards, and subsequently 15th Foot. 
 
 *" Late Duke of Cambridge's Own Middlesex Jtegiinent. 
 41 Late the Buffs, East Kent Regiment.
 
 430 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNALS. 
 
 cavalry were assembled about Marabieli and Abu Djuma, and 
 at Jebel Ain there was a considerable body, which had lately 
 been reinforced from Kordofan. The Baggaras had quarrelled 
 with the Mahdi regarding the booty taken at El Obeyed, and 
 had seized and carried off some of it. The troops at the posts 
 along the river were in rags, and from four to six months in 
 arrears of pay. 
 
 News from Kordofan stated that the Mahdi's force was 
 about one hundred thousand strong, that it had dispersed for 
 the moment, but could be quickly reassembled. The chiefs 
 met at El Obeyed every Friday for orders, but the Sheiks of 
 the Baggara did not attend. 
 
 Taking advantage of this discontent. General Ilicks was 
 trying to open communications with the last-mentioned, and 
 hoped to arrange a meeting at Dem. 
 
 On the 26th March Al-ed-Deen Pasha was publicly pro- 
 claimed at Kartoum as Governor-General of the Soudan, and, 
 on the same day, Hussein Pasha left for Sennaar to inform 
 Abdel Kader Pasha of his removal from office, and to relieve 
 him of his military command. 
 
 General Hicks and his Staff left Kartoum on the 3rd April 
 by steamer, and reached Kawa on the 6th. A force of about 
 5,000 men had been collected at the latter place, consisting of — 
 
 5^ battalions of regular infantry, *'^ 
 
 ^ battalion of negroes, 
 5 gims, 
 2 Nordenfeldts, and some Bashi-Bazouks. 
 
 On the 10th April General Hicks made a reconnaissance up 
 the river. He started at 6 A. m. on the steamer Bordeen, tak- 
 ing with him one mountain gun, two Nordenfeldts, and 50 
 Bashi-Bazouks. After proceeding for about an hour and a 
 half, the steamer was fired on from the western bank. Higher 
 up shots were fired from many places, especially opposite the 
 island of Abba, where the rebels had constructed trenches 
 along the banks. But a few shells, and some rounds from the 
 Nordenfeldts and rifles, soon drove them inland. Owing to 
 the failure of fuel, the reconnaissance could not be continued 
 as far as the ford of Abu-Zed. The steamer returned to Kawa 
 at 5.30 p. M. 
 
 On the 14th April, General Hicks telegraphed to Cairo that 
 
 ■^2 Two of the battalions were those of the 2nd Regiment, which had 
 been ordered by Abd-el-Kader Pasha to operate against the rebels at 
 Abu-Djuma, but they had done absohitely 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 ]st Regiment had been 
 withdrawn from Sennaar. Owing to the hostilitj^ of the Hassanieh 
 Arabs it had been necessary to reinforce the garrison of Duem by a bat- 
 talion, and 2,000 troops remained in reserve at the camp of Omdiirman.
 
 APPENDICES. 431 
 
 he was anxious to get to Jebel-Ain (eight marches distant), 
 where the rebels were concentrating, as soon as possible, but 
 that his supplies were insufficient, as he had only enough for 
 from 15 to 20 days with him, and nothing was obtainable in the 
 country. The administration of the army was most difficult, 
 owing to the want of proper departments, and the troops were 
 several months in ai-rears of pay. The steamers were out of 
 repair, and too few in number to do all that was required of 
 them, viz., to bring up supplies of ammunition and food, take 
 possession of the ford at Abu-Zed, and patrol the river and 
 stop communication between the banks. There was no store of 
 fuel; all had to be cut as required. 
 
 It was not till the 23rd April that the main body, nearly 
 5,000 strong, set out from Kawa. Owing to the difficulty of 
 obtaining reliable information, General Hicks himself with a 
 small force had proceeded up the river on the 22nd to recon- 
 noitre, and seize the ford of Abu-Zed. On arrival at the ford, 
 it was found to be in possession of a small body of rebels, who 
 were driven off without much difficulty. General Hicks re- 
 mained there on the 23rd, placing boats containing Bashi-Ba- 
 zouks, under the command of Jahier Bey, in echelon across the 
 stream, in which position they could command a very consider- 
 able length of the ford (which extends about a mile), and 
 support one another in case of any attempt to force the 
 passage. 
 
 He left on the morning of the 24th to continue the recon- 
 naissance up the river. The banks were found to be occupied 
 by straggling groups of Arabs, with whom shots were 
 exchanged. 
 
 On the 25th, the Chief of the Shilluk village of Musran 
 reported that the rebels had left Jebel-Ain and were marching 
 in force under the Makashef to attack the " Turks " on the 
 march from Kawa. 
 
 Having ascertained that this information was correct. 
 General Hicks steamed back to the ford, warned Jahier Bey, 
 and, during the night, dropped down the river to join the 
 army, which was then encamped opposite the northern end of 
 the island of Abba. 
 
 Being in a favourable position, it remained halted on the 
 26th and 27th in expectation of an attack. On the former 
 date some rebel cavalry appeared, but were driven back with 
 a few shells, and on the night of the 27th there were several 
 false alarms. The march was resumed on the 28th. On the 
 following day tents were struck as usual, at daybreak, and 
 the order was given to march at seven A. M. About nine 
 A. M.^3 Colonel Farquhar, wlio had been reconnoitring in 
 
 43 The column had then marched about five miles, and was close to the 
 village of MarabiyeU.
 
 432 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNALS. 
 
 front, reported that the enemy was about two miles off, and 
 advancing at a rapid pace. About a quarter of an hour after- 
 wards they appeared in considerable numbers, both cavalry 
 and infantry, and spread out towards the flanks with a view of 
 attacking the angles of the square in which the Egyj^tiau 
 troops were formed.*'* 
 
 They then advanced quickly, led by chieftains on horseback 
 with banners borne in front of them. There was considerable 
 delay in getting the guns into action,*^ but the rebel cavalry 
 broke as soon as the shells commenced falling among them, 
 and moved off the field. The infantry still came on boldly, 
 and although shot down in numbers, succeeded in getting close 
 enough to the square to throw some spears into it. But few of 
 the enemy were armed with rifles. 
 
 After half an hour's fighting, during which the Egyptian 
 troops behaved steadily and well, though they appeared to have 
 fired too high,*^ the rebel force was completely broken up, and 
 fled in confusion. Owing to the absence of cavalry, the pur- 
 suit was not as vigorous as it would otherwise have been. The 
 strength of the rebels exceeded 5,000 men. Their losses in 
 killed and wounded were about 500. The Makashef, his son, 
 and several chiefs were among the slain. 
 
 The Khedival troops lost two killed and five wounded.'*' 
 
 After the action General Hicks, anticipating that an im- 
 mediate attempt would be made by the rebels to cross to the 
 western bank of the river at some point above the ford of 
 Abu-Zed, embarked on board the steamer Bordeen at Goza- 
 boime-Gomme, and proceeded up the river, taking with him 
 two Nordenfeldt guns, a rifled howitzer, and 150 Bashi Ba- 
 
 *4The troops both marched and fmight, 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 
 arnw 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. 
 
 "iS 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 gi'eat 
 difficulty in getting any of them to open tire. 
 
 ••6 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. 
 
 ■^7 Of the English officers, Colonels Colborne and de Coetlogon 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.
 
 APPENDICES. 433 
 
 zouks. At the ford of Abii-Zed he picked up the steamer 
 Fascher, with Jahier Bey and 90 Bashi Bazouks. 
 
 On the 1st of May, the rebels were found to be crossing in 
 large numbers at a regular place of passage, about ten miles 
 below Jebel Ain. They were driven inland from both banks 
 ■with some loss. Numbers had already crossed, but a large 
 body with camels and baggage still remained on the eastern 
 bank. In the hope of capturing these, General Hicks sent to 
 Suleiman Pasha asking him to hurry on as fast as possible. 
 But the Egyptians had no cavalry, and the infantry marched 
 so slowly that it took them more than two days to accomplish 
 the twelve miles between their camp and the place of 
 passage. 
 
 General Hicks himself went towards Jebel Ain, landed, and 
 sent a party up the mountain. On their return they stated 
 that not a sign of a rebel was to be seen, and the Shilluks also 
 reported that the district had been evacuated. 
 
 On the 3rd May, General Hicks rejoined the main body, 
 then encamped near Jebel Ain. Suleiman Pasha was anxious 
 to march through the district, as he was of opinion that there 
 were several tribes in the neighbourhood to whom it was of 
 importance to show the army. But it was finally decided to 
 return to Duem at once, and prepare for an attack on Schatt, 
 where the rebels were reported to be assembling in large 
 numbers. 
 
 The victory of the 29th had a very great moral effect, and 
 many of the Baggara and other chiefs subsequentlj^ surren- 
 dered. General Hicks, unaccompanied by any troops, received 
 several of them on the western bank of the river, and thus 
 gave confidence. Negotiations with the Kababish Arabs were 
 also in progress. 
 
 Towards the end of May the rebels, who had been threaten- 
 ing Duem, dispersed, and it was reported that the western 
 bank of the river was free from hostile bands. The main 
 body of the amiy was then withdrawn to Kartoum, leaving 
 garrisons at Kawa and Duem. On the Blue Nile, Sennaar 
 and Wod-Medinet were garrisoned. 
 
 The expedition to Kordofan could not be undertaken till 
 after the rains, when the wells in the desert would be full, 
 and pools of water would have been formed. 
 
 On the 15th May, the Governor-General of the Soudan 
 telegraphed to Cairo that he had only £40,000 in the treasury 
 at Kartoum, and that he tliought it inadvisable to enforce the 
 taxes for fear of producing further disaffection among the 
 natives. 
 
 Arrears to the amount of £81,000 were still owing in the 
 Mudiriyehs of Kartoum and Sennaar for pay, food, and trans- 
 port. He was anxious that in future all salaries should be
 
 434 GENERAL GORDO^'S JOURNALS. 
 
 paid punctually both to the officials and to the military, and 
 that the Government should be able to meet its other ex- 
 penses at the proj^ei- time. He requested that large sums 
 of money might be forwarded to liim, and estimated at 
 £46,000 his monthly expenditure for the troops at Kartoum, 
 Sennaar, the military posts on the White and Blue Niles, 
 Fashoda, the Equatorial Provinces, and Balir-Gazelle, but 
 exclusive of those at Dongola, Berber, and in the Red Sea 
 Provinces. 
 
 In reply to the above, Cherif Pasha telegraphed, on the 
 11th June, that the under-mentioned amounts would be placed 
 at the disposal of the Governor-General during the current 
 vear, viz. : — 
 
 £ 
 Seven months' pay for the army actually 
 engaged in the war ..... 13,000 
 
 Rations for seven months 32,000 
 
 Forage (Fourrage) 37,500 
 
 Purchase of camels 25.000 
 
 Arrears 80,000 
 
 Total . . . 187,500 
 
 But the amount actually in the 
 Treasury at Kartoum was to 
 be deducted from this . . 40,000 
 
 £147,000 
 
 leaving £147,000 to be sent from Cairo. 
 
 Reinforcements to the number of 3,000 men were to be 
 sent to the Soudan, but all the expenses connected with 
 them, wliich were estimated at £40,000, would be defrayed 
 by the Egyptian Government. 
 
 For the expenses of the Civil Administration and the pay 
 of soldiers not actually engaged in the war, the Governor- 
 General was ordered to do the best he could with the revenues 
 of the Soudan, as the Egyptian Government would not be 
 able to furnish him with more than the sums already specified. 
 
 On the 13th May General Hicks telegraphed to Cairo re- 
 questing that he might be put in indisputable command of 
 the army, as otherwise he could not be responsible for the 
 success of the expedition to Kordofan. It was subsequently 
 rumoured on several occasions that he had requested to be 
 relieved of his post on account of the systematic obstruc- 
 tions he met Avith from native officials. These reports were 
 always officially contradicted. However, on the 2nd August, 
 Renter's agent at Alexandria announced that the Governor- 
 General of the Soudan had been appointed to command the 
 troops in that province, and that Suleiman Pasha had been 
 recalled, and appointed Governor of the Red Sea Provinces. 
 By this means it was expected that General Hicks would
 
 APPENDICES. 435 
 
 regain complete liberty of action, thongh Al eel Deen Pasha 
 was to accompany the expedition to Kordofan. 
 
 During the absence of the latter, Hussein Bey, Lieutenant- 
 Colonel of the 2nd Regiment, was to act as his deputy at 
 Kartoum. Kashid Pasha, who was then Governor of the 
 Red Sea Provinces, was to be given the command of one of 
 the brigades of the Expeditionary Force. 
 
 The Mahdi only remained master of Kordofan. All re- 
 ports from there tended to show that serious dissensions had 
 broken out between him and his chiefs, and that the number 
 of his adherents was daily diminishing. His position ap- 
 peared to be getting critical. From the north he was threat- 
 ened by the Egyptian army, and to the east the White Nile, 
 which was constantly patrolled by Egyptian boats, would 
 bar any attempt at escape in that direction. On the south, 
 King Adam of Takalle had sworn to kill the Mahdi if he 
 attempted to pass through his country to Jebel Gedir, whither 
 he had sent his family and most of the booty captured at 
 El Obeyed. King Adam was also taking steps to arrange 
 with Sheikh Asaker, chief of the Baggara Gimeh Arabs, in- 
 habiting the desert from the island of Abba towards Takalle, 
 a joint offensive movement against southern Kordofan. In 
 the middle of July it was stated that the Mahdi had given 
 tip all hopes of resistance, and was only anxious about his 
 personal safety ; and that it was his intention to try to reach 
 the copper mines in the southwest of Darfur, not far from 
 Jebel Mara. In order to do this, however, he would have 
 to make a long detour to avoid an encounter with the force 
 under Slatin Bey, Governor of Darfur. 
 
 Very little news has been received of the real state of 
 affairs in that far-off province. It appears that, on receipt 
 of orders from Cairo, a messenger was despatched from 
 Kartoum to El Fascher in April of the present year with the 
 following instructions for Slatin Bey, — viz., to concentrate 
 the garrisons of Darfur at El Fascher, attempt to organise a 
 national Government under a descendant of one of the former 
 kings, and then withdraw from the country, either to Don- 
 gola or Bahr el Ghazel. Report states that Slatin Bey 
 subsequently evacuated El Fascher, defeated a tribe of hos- 
 tile Hamr Arabs, and then intrenched himself at Omchanga, 
 in an important strategical position on the road to El Obeyed, 
 where he awaited the arrival of the garrison of Foga before 
 undertaking any further operations. 
 
 The above-mentioned orders do not appear to have reached 
 Slatin Bey, for on the 30th June he wrote as follows to the 
 Governor-General of the Soudan from Dara, 200 miles south 
 of El-Fascher : — 
 
 " Up to this date I have fought 27 battles of more or less
 
 436 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNALS. 
 
 impcrtance, and have been twice wonnded. I am besides 
 suffering from Guinea worm, and have consequently been 
 obliged to retire on Dar Demittala, but not before killing in 
 battle the Khalifa of Mohammed Ahmet, Bishari Wal-ud- 
 Bakis. 
 
 " I have not only to fight external but internal enemies. 
 Many of the Arab officers intrigue against me, and seek to 
 imd ermine my authority. They spread rumours that Arabi has 
 driven all the Europeans out of Egypt, and that I myself have 
 been deprived of my functions." 
 
 " After the commencement of the rainy season, fighting -will 
 begin again with the llazagatt, Habanieh and Mali Arabs, and 
 I am greatly in need of help, for my best officers and men 
 have fallen, and ammunition is beginning to draw to an end." 
 
 " I ask your Excellency to send me a letter not in cypher, 
 setting forth my absolute power, and I take upon myself, as 
 long as I am alive, the responsilaility of keeping the Province 
 of Darfur for the Government." 
 
 The above letter reached Kartoum in August. It was in 
 reply from one to Giegler Pasha, dated 14th March, 1883, 
 which, Slatin Bey stated, was the first direct news he had re- 
 ceived from Kartoum for more than a year. 
 
 On the 20th August, General Hicks received a telegram 
 from the Khedive appointing him Commander-in-Chief of the 
 expedition to Kordofan, with the rank of General of Division. 
 His original plan was to leave Kartoum about the 8th of Sep- 
 tember, and march up the White Nile as far as Berair,'*^ with 
 8,600 infantry, 1,400 cavalry and Bashi Bazouks, one battery 
 of Krupp field guns, two batteries of mounted gims, one bat^ 
 tery of Xordenfeldts, and 5,000 camels. 
 
 Leaving the river at Berair, he proposed to march first on 
 Bara,'*' and then on El Obeyed, appearing before the last-men- 
 tioned place with 7,000 men, which it was considered would be 
 sufficient to overcome the Mahdi. About 3,000 were to be 
 employed in keeping open the line of communications. But 
 the idea of establishing a line of fortified posts between the 
 Nile and Kordofan was subsequently abandoned, and it was 
 decided that the whole force should advance together, without 
 attempting to keep i\p any communication with the rear. The 
 reason for adopting this course was, that reports were brought 
 in that large numbers of hostile Arabs were likely to reap- 
 pear on the line of march after the passage of the army, and 
 
 ■*8 Sixteen miles below Duem. 
 
 49 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.
 
 APPENDICES. 437 
 
 there would be great difficulty in iuducing small bodies of 
 Egyptian troops to escort convoys of stores between the posts. 
 
 The Egyjjtian officers attached to the force were inefficient, 
 and, as a ride, apathetic ; they carried little or no respect, 
 and had but slight authority over their men. To bring the 
 army into a state of efficiency, feed it, provide transjjort, and 
 procure intelligence, taxed the energies of General Hicks and 
 his small European Staff to the utmost. His greatest anxiety 
 was regardmg the water supply during the march, for Kordo- 
 fan is the dryest province in the whole Sondan. The wells 
 along the roads across the desert contain but little water, 
 except immediately after the rains, and it was feared that 
 even then there would be insufficient for a large force accom- 
 panied by horses, mules, and several thousand camels. 
 
 On leaving the Nile, provisions for sixty days were to be 
 carried with the army. 
 
 Rashid Pasha, who was to have commanded a brigade, tele- 
 graphed from Kassala that the Arabs in the neighbourhood 
 were in a state of great excitement, and he thought it would 
 be best for him to remain there till it had subsided. 
 
 On the 9th September the main body set out from Kartoum, 
 and, passing Berair, reached Duem^^'on the 20th. Xo hos- 
 tility was shown along the route, though many of the inhabi- 
 tants fled on the ajipi'oach of the troops. The heat was in- 
 tense, and there was considerable loss of life among the 
 camels during the march. The line of telegraph had been 
 destroyed. 
 
 On the 23rd September, an advanced force, consisting of 
 three battalions and six guns, seized the first water station, 
 fifteen miles from Buem, without encountering any resistance. 
 
 General Hicks did not leave Kartoum till the 28th Septem- 
 ber, when he proceeded up the river by steamer to Duem, and 
 then joined the main body.^^ 
 
 On the 30th September the army encamped at a place 30 
 miles southwest of Duem. The heat was still intense, and 
 the camels were dying in considerable numbers. 
 
 The square continued to be used as the fighting formation. 
 Great precautions were taken on the line of march. The 
 army marched in three columns prepared instantly to form 
 square, with the camels and stores in the centre, the guns in 
 the front faces, and the Nordenfeldts at the angles. Through 
 
 S" The distance between Duem and Kartoum is about 110 miles. 
 
 ol Tiie other English officers with the Expeditionary Force are Colonel 
 Farquliar, Chief of the Staff ; Jlajors Warner, jMassey, and Evans ; 
 Captains Heath and Walker, and Surf;;eon-Major Rosenburg. In addi- 
 tion to these, there are several Austrians and Germans. Colonel de 
 Coetlogon remains at Kartoum, and Colonel Colborne and Major Mar- 
 tin have been invalided home.
 
 438 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNALS. 
 
 constant practice, the men had become very perfect in this 
 manoeuvre. When camjiing square was formed, two tents per 
 company were pitched behind piled arms. When possible, a 
 zeriba, or dense abattis of thorny bushes, was formed round 
 the square. In case of sudden attack on the march, each 
 soldier carried four crow's-feet, which he was to throw to a 
 distance in his front to check the rush of the assailing forces. 
 
 On the 7th October the army apjjears to have reached 
 Sangi Hamferid, 45 miles southwest of Duem, where it re- 
 mained halted for several days, owing to the uncertainty of 
 the water supply in front. At the camp there was no water 
 except on the surface in depressions of the ground. The 
 camels were dropping, but the troops were in good health. 
 
 On the 9th October Colonel Farquhar made a reconnais- 
 sance 30 miles forward, and ascertained that the pools were 
 barely sufficient for a rapid march to Sarakna, at which vil- 
 lage there ai-e a few wells. 
 
 The enemy was still retiring, and sweeping the country bare 
 of cattle. The uncut harvest supplied ample forage. 
 
 In the beginning of Aiigust rumours reached Suakin that 
 emissaries of the INIahdi were inciting the Arabs in the neigh- 
 bourhood of Sinkat ^'- and Erkowit ^^ to revolt. On the 2nd 
 Tewfik Bey, the Governor of Suakin, left for Sinkat, to in- 
 quire into the true state of affairs. He there learned that 
 Osman Digma, a well-known slave-dealer, assisted by his 
 nephews, Ahmed and Fagi Digma, had raised the Erkowit, 
 Sherah, Mishab, Migadaff, and Bishirieh tribes in the name of 
 the Mahdi. All these are small tribes, living in the Erkowit 
 district ; but the more important Langeb tribe, living in the 
 neighbourhood of Toka, were said to be preparing to rise. 
 
 Tewfik Bey immediately summoned Digma to come to him 
 at Sinkat. He arrived on the 5th August, but accompanied by 
 about 1,500 armed followers, and demanded, in the name of the 
 JMahdi, the surrender of Sinkat and Suakin, with all the arms 
 and treasure they contain. These demands being, of course, 
 refused, Digma attacked the barracks and the summer resi- 
 dences of the Suakis spread over the plain. The inhabitants 
 defended themselves, and, ^vith the assistance of the troops, 
 drove off the rebels after an hour's fight. Digma was severely 
 wounded, and his two nephews and sixty-three other rebels 
 were killed. The number of their wounded is unknown. On 
 the Government side, seven soldiers and Suakis were killed or 
 died of their wounds. 
 
 52 On the road from Suakin to Berber, situated in a vallev about three 
 miles in breadth, enclosed by mountains. Many of the inhabitants of 
 Suakin live there during the "hot season. 
 
 63 The lofty mountains of Erkowit lie 20 to 30 miles southeast of 
 Sinkat. Erkowit is another summer retreat for the people of Suakin.
 
 APPENDICES. 439 
 
 The rebels retired to Erkowit, aud it was reported that they 
 were much discouraged by their defeat. 
 
 By the 13th August the garrisou of Sinkat, which on the 5th 
 was only 100 strong, had been increased to 200. On that date 
 there were 100 soldiers, forty of whom were artillerymen, and 
 six Krupp 9-pounders at Suakin. Some measures were being 
 taken for the defence of the town. 
 
 Some uneasiness was also felt at Berber, and, in conse- 
 quence, the Mudir of that place detained there two battalions 
 of infantry, which arrived early in August, on their way to 
 Kartoum. 
 
 It was reported that the last detatchment of reinforcements 
 for General Hicks, consisting of 200 infantry and 300 Bashi- 
 Bazouks, had been abandoned by their camel-drivers aud 
 camels at a place called Kokreb, about half-way between 
 Suakin and Berber. What became of the troops after the 
 loss of their baggage and camels is not stated. 
 
 Although the attack on Sinkat had been repulsed with loss, 
 the appearance of the enemy in the rear of General Hicks, 
 and more or less commanding his line of communications, 
 was sufficiently serious to cause much uneasiness at Cairo. 
 
 Three hundred troops were despatched from Egypt to Sua- 
 kin about the 24th August, aud they were to be followed by 
 further large reinforcements. 
 
 The telegraph line between Suakin and Sinkat was cut on 
 the 10th August. On the 8th October it was reported that 
 communication between those places and Berber, which had 
 been interrupted for some time, had been reestablished. 
 
 On the 18th October, however, two officers and 156 Egyp- 
 tian soldiers were killed by the Arabs in a mountain defile, 
 about 20 miles from Suakin. They were on their way to 
 support Towfik Bey, who was said to be surrounded by rebels 
 at Sinkat. 
 
 On the 5th November, a body of Egyptian troops, variously 
 estimated at from 250 to 500 meu, were attacked near Tokar ^* 
 by a band- of insurgents, and completely routed. They are 
 said to have thrown their arms away and taken to flight, not- 
 withstanding the efforts of their commander to rally them. 
 The reports are not very clear as to whether the Egyptians 
 were merely making a reconnaissance, or were attempting to 
 reach Kartoum by way of Kassala. Commander Moncrieff,®^ 
 
 54 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 
 
 55 Commander Lj'nedoch Needham Moncrieff entered the Royal Navy 
 in 18G.3, and in February, 1865, while. Sub-Lieutenant of the" Pelnros, 
 was engaged in the destruction of piratical junks in Tungroa Bay. He 
 became Lieutenant in July, 1865, and retired with the rank of Com- 
 mander in 1873. Proceeding to the Cape of Good Hope on the outbreak
 
 440 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNALS. 
 
 late R. N., the Brkish Consul at Suakiu, who had accompanied 
 them from that place, was among the killed. 
 
 The latest accounts state that Tokar is still held for the 
 Egyptian Government by a small body of troops and some 
 convicts. A panic had set in at Suakiu, and the inhabitants 
 were leaving for Jeddah. 
 
 On leaving the camp at Omdurraan,^" on the morning of the 
 9th September, the order of march was as follows, viz., Two 
 guides, mounted on camels, led the way. Behind them rode 
 a detachment of men in armour, followed by the general staflf. 
 Then came a battalion of infantry in line, with several bat- 
 talions in column in rear of each of its flanks. Tho artillery 
 marched between the columns of infantry. Another battalion 
 in line formed the fourth side of the infantry square.^' A 
 detachment of cavalry completed the fighting force. Behind 
 it came a long train of pack animals, led and protected by 
 Bashi-Bazouks. The rear was brought up by irregular cav- 
 alry. 
 
 The marclaiug-out strength was 10,000 men, 4 Krupp field 
 guns, 10 mountain guns, 6 Nordenf eldts, 500 horses, and 5,500 
 camels. 
 
 Al ed Deen Pasha, the Governor-General of the Soudan, 
 started at the same time, proceeding as far as Duem by 
 steamer. He took in his suite several notables of great in- 
 fluence, who were to be considered as hostages, and answer- 
 able with their lives for any disturbances that might break 
 out in Kartoum during their absence. 
 
 On the march every precaution was taken to guard against 
 surprise. The troops were always under arms, and lined the 
 "zerebas" an hour before daybreak, the usual time for an 
 Arab attack. The cavalry used to go out at dawn, and not 
 till then were the tents allowed to be struck and the camels 
 loaded. An hour later the whole force marched off. Owing 
 
 of the Zulu war, Commander Moncrieff served with the 2nd battalion of 
 the Native Contingent from May, 1879, till the close of the campaign, 
 durin;^ which he was engaged in the battle of Ulimdi, where he was 
 slightly wounded, afterwards having Commissariat charge at Fort Cam- 
 bridge. 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^. per annum, besides an annual 
 allowance of 250/. for office expenses. Commander Moncrieff received 
 the silver medal of the Koj-al Humane Society for saving life at sea la 
 1864. . 
 
 *^6 On the left bank of the White Nile, opposite Kartoum. 
 
 57 After leaving Duem, the formation, with the camels in the centre 
 of the square, appears to have been adopted.
 
 APPENDICES. 441 
 
 to the enormoiis number of camels, progress was slow. After 
 twelve days' marching, Duem, 110 miles from Omclurman, 
 was reached, and the army rested for four days. The heat 
 was intense, and both men and camels suffered considerably. 
 
 On quitting the Nile, General Hicks' s original intention 
 had been to retake Bera, °^ before marching on El Obeyed, 
 but he altered his plans at the request of King Adam of 
 Takalld, who promised assistance in the event of the army 
 entering Kordofan from the south. 
 
 On the 30th September, General Hicks reached Zeraiga, 
 about 30 miles from Duem. The following despatch was 
 probably written at Sangi Hamferid, ^^ some miles farther 
 on, though neither the date nor the name of the place are 
 stated. It was sent by hand to Kartoum, and telegraphed 
 thence to Cairo on the 17th October. It runs as follows, viz. ? 
 " The army has arrived within 28 miles of Sarakhna. We 
 have depended upon pools of rain-water for supply, which 
 we have fortunately found. A reconnaissance made to-day 
 ensures us water as far as Sarakhna. Guide information is 
 vague. I regret that I have to abandon my intention of estab- 
 lishing military posts and line of communication with base at 
 Duem. The Governor-General assures me that the Arab? 
 will close in on my route after the army has passed in suffi- 
 cient force to prevent posts forwarding supplies ; besides, the 
 pools of rain-water — the only supply — will dry up. ^^^ate^ 
 not to be obtained by digging wells. I have no information 
 regarding water between Sarakhna and Nurabi, nor reliable 
 information of the supply there. This causes me great 
 anxiety. I quite expected Sarakhna to be occupied by the 
 enemy, but the reconnaissance to-day found the place evacu- 
 ated. The Arabs had left this morning. The health of the 
 troops is, on the whole, good, which is fortunate, as we have 
 no sick carriage. The heat is intense." 
 
 The following is the last despatch received from General 
 Hicks. It is dated " Camp, near Saraklina, October 3rd, 
 1883 " : — 
 
 " On leaving Duem, on the White Nile, to march by the 
 Khor-el-Nil to Melbeis and El Obeyed, I decided that my line of 
 communication should be secured by posts of 200 men each, 
 left in strongly fortified positions in the following places : 
 Schatt, 16 miles distant ; Zeraiga, 16 miles distant ; Sa- 
 rakhna, 32 miles distant ; Nurabi, 16 miles distant ; Agaila, 
 24 miles distant ; Johan, 32 miles distant ; Abli, 28 miles dis- 
 tant ; Beliab, 22 miles distant ; Um Sheikh, 12 miles distant ; 
 
 ^8 An important town in Kordofan, north of El Obeyed. 
 
 59 From information received the army appears to have arrived at 
 Sangi Hamferid about the 1st October, and not on the date before mea- 
 tioned — 7th October.
 
 442 GENERAL GORDONS JOURNALS. 
 
 Rahad, 14 miles distant ; Khashil (? Kazghil), 14 miles dis- 
 tant ; Melbeis, 25 miles distant/'^ 
 
 '' At all these places I was informed water would be found. 
 
 " Large quantities of biscuits were to ariive at Duem, and 
 as we were unable to leave a single camel at the base, 1,000 
 were ordered to be purchased and forwarded to Duem. 
 
 " His Excellency Al-ed-Din Pasha had already at Kartoum 
 300, and gave orders for the remaining 700 to be purchased 
 and forwarded to Duem without delay. 
 
 " The biscuits would then, with ammunition and other stores, 
 be pushed on to the front from post to post. 
 
 "Depots would be formed at each post, and, in case of a re- 
 verse, a line of retreat secured, the troops falling back upon 
 these depots, where we should be certain of finding supplies of 
 food, ammunition, and water. 
 
 " We marched to Schatt, and formed the first post and de- 
 pot there ; but, before reaching Zeraiga, I was informed by 
 the Governor-General of the Soudan that it was useless for me 
 to expect any supplies to be pushed up from Duem; that the 
 soldiers left at the posts would not guard the convoys ; in 
 fact, that they would be afraid to do so ; that, to ensure sup- 
 plies being forwarded, an army would be required with each 
 convoy ; that the Arabs, although now absent from our line of 
 route, would return after we had passed, and that they would 
 be numerous, and the garrisons of the posts would not con- 
 sider themselves strong enough to forward the supplies ; that 
 it would be dangerous ; and I would find that they would not 
 run the risk. 
 
 " The Governor-General requested me to abandon the idea 
 of having this line of posts — to give up my line of communi- 
 cations and line of retreat, and to advance with the army en 
 Vair, with 50 days' supply of food only, the Arabs closing in 
 on our rear. 
 
 " I am naturally very averse to this, but if, as liis Excellency 
 assures me, it is a fact that the posts will not be supplied from 
 the base at Duem, and supplies will not be forwarded through 
 them, I should, in garrisoning these posts, be only weakening 
 my fighting force without gaining any advantage. I have 
 therefore called a Council, have had the matter explained, 
 and requested the members to record their opinions." ^^ 
 
 No news of the Expeditionary Force having been heard for 
 
 6" Duem to Melbeis — total 251 miles. These distances are only ap- 
 proximate. 
 
 61 The existence of these two despatches was not known to Sir E. 
 Baring till they appeared in the "Eg^'ptian Gazntte " of the 27th No- 
 vember. Ch^rif Pasha had previously infoimed him that nothing had 
 been heard of General Hicks since the 27th September, the date on 
 which he started from Duem. Ch^rif Pasha subsequently admitted that 
 he was mistaken in making that statement.
 
 APPENDICES. 443 
 
 several weeks, anxiety began to be felt as to its fate. Mes- 
 sengers were despatched from Dueni along the various routes 
 to Kordofan, but, for a long while, none of the few who re- 
 turned brought any authentic information. 
 
 On the 30th October, rumours were spread in Kartoum that 
 the Mahdi had been defeated in several important engage- 
 ments, and that General Hicks was master of the whole of 
 Kordofan. No official confirmation of the reported victories 
 was, however, received, and after a few days the authenticity 
 of the news began to be doubted. 
 
 At length, on the 19th November, a messenger, who had 
 failed to deliver his despatches to Al-ed-Deen Pasha, returned 
 to Duem, bringing news of the total destruction of General 
 Hieks's army. These sad tidings were soon confirmed by other 
 persons arriving from Kordofan. Their accounts differ in de- 
 tail, but most of them agree that the greater part, if not the 
 whole, of the army was annihilated by the insurgent forces on 
 the 4th or 5th November. The events which culminated in 
 this terrible disaster are still shrouded in a certain amount of 
 mystery. Nothing has been heard from any of the Europeans 
 who accompanied the exjiedition, nor from any of the Egyptian 
 Staff Officers, of a later date than General Hieks's despatch of 
 the 3rd October. Probably the most trustworthy account of 
 the fighting is that given by a camel-driver, who went as ser- 
 vant to a native officer. He states that the army, on leaving 
 Duem, soon met the rebels, and engaged in skirmishes with 
 them, the Mahdi's men being beaten, and the Egyptians losing 
 a few Bashi-Bazouks and Shaggyehs. Thus the army arrived 
 at Rahad, where there is a lake. There it filled up with 
 water, and then marched towards Alouba. At the latter place 
 there was an encounter with the rebels, in which General Hicks 
 was victorious. On the 2nd November the army left Alouba, 
 taking what water it could, and, while marching through a 
 forest, was surprised by a large force of rebels. The Egyp- 
 tians formed square, and, after fighting all day, finally de- 
 feated them and drove them off. On Saturday, the 3rd No- 
 vember, the march was resumed. Water was already becoming 
 scarce. The rebels again appeared in force, and surrounded 
 the army. A serious engagement ensued, in which heavy 
 losses were suffered on both sides, but the rebels were once 
 more beaten. That night was passed on the field of battle, 
 and next diij the army moved towards Kazghil. After proceed- 
 ing for four hours, it suddenly came under a heavy fusillade 
 from large numbers of the enemy. The troops were suffering 
 great torments from tliirst, but nevertheless fought throughout 
 the whole day. On the 5th, when they were approaching the 
 wells, which were only half an hour distant, the rebels, who 
 had been concealed in the forest, again suddenly attacked the
 
 444 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNALS. 
 
 column on all sides. The Egyptians returned their fire, and 
 a great battle raged. Towards midday the entire force of the 
 rebels made a general charge with guns, swords, and spears, 
 and General Hicks and his whole army perished, except 200 
 Egyptian soldiers and a few negro servants, most of whom 
 were wounded. "^^ 
 
 Of the whole of the expeditionary force, the only European 
 supposed to be now alive is Adolf Klootz, formerly a sergeant 
 of Prussian Uhlans, and recently servant to Major von Secken- 
 dorff. He is said to have deserted three days before the final 
 struggle, to have commanded the insurgent artillery during 
 the action, and to be at present an officer in the service of the 
 Mahdi.63 
 
 Note. — The following is the Extract of a letter from the 
 Mahdi's Emir at Berber to Zubair, by whom it was forwarded 
 to Sir Henry Gordon. 
 
 Letter of tlie Emir Ah Mohammed Abou Saad Esshentrawi al 
 Abadi (the Mahdi's Emir at Berber). 
 
 " Compliments, — After the arrival of Hussein Pasha Kha- 
 lifat in the Soudan, it was found that all the inhabitants were 
 aroused by the appearance of the Imam. Since this every 
 week a disturbance took place among the Arabs and Jahleien 
 and others. We tried to put down the disturbances. While 
 we were trying to do so, news came that the influence of the 
 Imam the Mahdi was established, and that all the districts of 
 Darfur and Bahr el Ghezel, and Kordofan, Sennaar, and Jebel 
 Khadir, and the Arabs, all of theni, were under him. Why 
 this was so was that they saw and heard what he has done to 
 the backsliders at the battle of Jebel Khadir, and in the 
 slaughter of Yusuf Pasha Shelali and his army of 8,000 men, 
 and in the destruction of Al-ed-Deen Pasha and his army of 
 36,000 men, which was altogether destroyed in a quarter of 
 an hour. It was a fearful fight, in which you heard only the 
 
 62 The under-mentioned 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 Matj'uga, Lieut. Morris Brody, late Serjeant-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. Vize- 
 telly, newspaper correspondents who accompanied the expedition, have 
 not since been heard of. • 
 
 63 The Paris Temps oi 23rd November, 1883, states that the Mahdi's 
 forces are organised and commanded by a Frencliman named Soulie, 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.
 
 APPENDICES. 445 
 
 slashing of swords into the bodies. At that time we received 
 letters from our lord the Imam strictly ordering us to fight the 
 backsliders and to bloclc tlie way against all mischief-makers 
 whatever, which we prepared to do. Then came to us Moham- 
 med El Kheir Ibu Abdullah, Governor-General of the district 
 of Berber, bringing with him standards of victory prepared 
 for the siege of Berber. When he arrived at Metemma, 
 he wrote letters to all the districts, calling for the aid of all 
 the tribes and Arabs. It was only a short time after that he 
 came to Berber with an army of 40,000 men, the youngest of 
 whom were eager to die in the field for the sake of God. This 
 was on the 1st Rejeb, 1301. CoiTesi^ondence took place be- 
 tween the Governor and the Pasha for the space of eight days, 
 and on Monday, the night of the 23rd Rejeb, the battle was 
 fought ; and before break of day we had won the victory and 
 had killed all who opposed the Mahdi, and captured the Pasha. 
 Then all the inhabitants of Bertou, of Berkou, of Islih, of 
 Balalah, of Baskirmah, and of Salah came into the Imam, and 
 then his reign was established in all the Soudan, east and west. 
 This is what happened in these parts ; and know, my friend, 
 that the world is turned upside down, and henceforward there 
 will be nothing but preparation for the holy war in the path of 
 God, and spending of treasure and life in wliat pleases Him 
 and His Prophet. Be on your guard against the covetousness 
 of the world. 
 
 " As to your spy, Mohammed Abou Jibali, who was sent 
 with your men, after they came to Berber, and had seen the 
 Governor, and had permission to go to Kartoum, when they 
 reached Shendy the Governor thought it better that they 
 should return to Berber — which they did on the 1st Ramadan. 
 They were imprisoned till the 20th. Then eight mounted men 
 came from among your relatives, and had a conference with 
 the Governor, who then released them, and they went to your 
 friends living near Kartoum. After they left, the spy, Mo- 
 hammed Abou Jibali, was detained, and imprisoned in Berber, 
 as before, till the 3rd of Zu'l Kadih. For your sake and 
 friendship, &c., we have done all we could, until we secretly 
 released him and sent him away safely to you. I hope he will 
 arrive in safety, and will tell you how honestly we have acted 
 for you. 
 
 "Accept, &c. 
 
 "3rd Zu'l Kfulih, 1301 [about 25th August, 1884]."
 
 APPENDICES TO BOOK V. 
 
 APPENDIX Q. 
 
 t 
 From Saleh Bey, Governor at Galabat. 
 
 To his Excellency the Governor-General of all the Provinces 
 of the Soudan. 
 Sir, 
 
 The two envelopes enclosed were sent to your servant 
 from his Majesty the King of Kings of Abyssinia, with a 
 special messenger from him, and a request that we would re- 
 ceive and forward them to your Excellency wherever you 
 may be f oixnd. Therefore we now send these messengers with 
 them. And we trust that after you have honoured them with 
 your attention that your Excellency will quickly send back the 
 answer to us, that we may send it to the King of Kings of 
 Abyssinia by the two messengers who have come from his 
 Majesty, and who are at present date with us at Kalabat 
 (Galabat). Awaiting the said reply. 
 
 (Signed) Salehh Ibrahim, 
 District Inspector and Officer of Kalabat (Galabat). 
 
 Postscript. — Sir, The name of the bearer is Ali Othman. 
 In order not to increase expense (this) is written on ruled 
 paper. 
 
 (Signed) Salehh Ibrahim. 
 
 1 Zu'l Hejjeh, 1301. 
 Sept. 22, 1884. 
 
 From Saleh Bey, Governor of Galabat. 
 
 To his Excellency the Honourable Governor-General of the 
 Soudan. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 Your servant, who stands in the attitude of Service (to 
 you), prays God with a sincere heart to grant his request and 
 to extend His goodness towards me, in strengthening and pre- 
 serving your Excellency under His shadow for the sake of the 
 servants and subjects (of Government), and to change the
 
 APPENDICES. 447 
 
 condition of affairs from what they are, and to grant me the 
 honour of seeing your Excellency, to kiss your bountiful hands, 
 by which we ha.ve been covered with good and with blessings ; 
 — (even you who are) the destroyer of the enemies of the 
 Government, the wicked rebels who have lost their souls and 
 their religion, and are deprived of the benefits of the Govern- 
 ment, from wliich they liad obtained glory and honour ; and 
 turned, in spite of (all) that, from truth to error. May 
 God preserve the glory of Government (so that) by presence 
 of your Excellency you may destroy and utterly ruin the 
 wretched Mohammed Ahhmed and his followers. 
 
 We have also to-day heard from the neighbourhood of 
 Dukah of Abou Sitti and of Abou Haraz about what the 
 energy of your Excellency has accomplished in beating the 
 rebels and dispersing their people and troops, assembled for 
 purposes of sedition. 
 
 And I beseech God most High, to whom be praise, to stretch 
 out the sword of your Government more — (and more) — (in 
 order) to annihilate the false pretences of Mohammed Ahh- 
 med, and to disperse his wicked hordes. 
 
 If your thoughts be directed towards your servant and the 
 humble subject of the Government — (I have to say that) at 
 present date I am well, under your protection, and am still 
 continuing in the attitude of service to the Government. And 
 oh ! what a Government ! (it is). How much compassion and 
 benefit and kindness have you bestowed on us in goodness and 
 bounty, which no man can deny ? I pray in the name of God 
 and of His prophet that your servant may never depart from 
 this path of duty (fidelity — being) obedient to the Govern- 
 ment openly, without hindrance — under your protection. 
 
 With regard to the subjects of the Government under the 
 care of your servant — they do not cease to remain as they 
 were in respect of submission and obedience (loyalty), and 
 will never follow the ways of rebellion — by the mercy of God 
 most High and as a result of the advantage of being under 
 your Government. 
 
 But, Excellency, we are surrounded by the enemy on all 
 sides ; from the side of the Dukah, by the Shukryeh, by the 
 Dhaniyeh, and by the Ja'alibiyeh : as on the side of the river, 
 by the Rahbar ; also by the Bukadi, and those rebels who 
 follow them. 
 
 But by the influence of your Excellency no harm will come 
 to us from them. Nor do we take account of him (the 
 Mahdi) ; our Lord will make us victorious over him through 
 the strength of the Government and the reputation of its 
 power and majesty, from which we derive glory and honour, 
 through your Excellency and the favour of the Khedive. 
 
 As to what we have enclosed about , we trust and
 
 448 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNALS. 
 
 pray for the answer. Including this time, we have now writ- 
 ten to you four times. 
 
 The messenger takes them (the letters) from here, and 
 when he gets to Katarif, or Dukah, he finds liers in wait, and 
 the rebels torment him on meeting him in the road. 
 
 This prevented us from writing lately, but we are in constant 
 communication with the JNIudiriyeh ; and in that road we have 
 lost two persons by (hands of) the rebels of Dhaniyeh and of 
 Bukkad, on the road of Tumruk. 
 
 This for the information of your Excellency. 
 
 (Signed) Salehh Ibrahim, 
 Ma'amoor and Nazir, of Kalabat (Galabat) 
 (District Inspector and Officer.) 
 1 Zii'l Hejjeh, 1301. 
 Sept. 22 1884. 
 
 From Saleh Bey, Governor of Salahah. 
 To His Excellency the Honourable the Governor-General of the Soudan. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 I have the honour to lay before your Excellency that at 
 the beginning of the month of Rajeb, from the time of the 
 desertion and change of conduct of the Shukriyeh and the 
 Dhaniyeh, and the Jaalani, and the Bukkadi, in forsaking 
 loyalty to Government and corrupting their ways when they 
 joined the wretch (the Mahdi) and his followers : as soon as 
 we received news of their having thrown off their allegiance 
 we communicated with the Mudiriyeh in the month aforesaid. 
 And these four tribes combined together against us and be- 
 sieged us on the side of Dukah, having with them one called 
 Hussein Abd el Wahhad, and they wrote to us as to their in- 
 tention that we should follow them into error, or they would 
 fight and hem us in. When we perceived tliis, and that it was 
 then the season of Autumn and the time for sowing our seed 
 for necessary provisions — and that their wicked intention was 
 to prevent the inhabitants from sowing their grain, and that 
 the soldiery we had were very few ; we tried by means of 
 diplomacy and artifice with their chief Hussein, to get them to 
 leave us during the autumn (seed time). 
 
 All that passed between us and them we have commu- 
 nicated in detail to the Mudiriyeh from time to time — so that 
 there should be no misunderstanding from our silence — about 
 what we wrote to them for putting them off by diplomacy, as 
 it seemed best to us for bringing them to reason. And please 
 God, after tranquillity is established, we will hasten to make 
 copies of all the communications which have passed with them, 
 as well as of what we wrote to the Mudiriyeh. On your see- 
 ing them you will know the zeal of your servant in upholding 
 his office ; and his exertions for honour of the Government, 
 whose bounties overwhelm him, will appear.
 
 APPENDICES. 449 
 
 And, Sir, now that autumn is over, and these four tribes 
 above mentioned are now in Katarif, and as there is great 
 energy displayed in assembb'ng them for the certain purpose 
 of besieging Kalabat (Galabat), it became necessary to inform 
 your Excellency, trusting and praying for issue of your Excel- 
 lency's order, sanctioning all that we do for the purpose of 
 impeding and destroying those wretches before named. And 
 with the help of the most High God your servant will do 
 nothing but what will lead to victory, and will increase the 
 supremacy of the Government and the destruction of its ene- 
 mies. It is not to be hidden from your Excellency about 
 Mohammed Bey Zain, that when the Mudiriyeh sent orders 
 to the Ma'am oor (district officer) of Katarif for payment of 
 6,000 dollars for payment of the salaries of the oiBcials of 
 Galabat, an officer and thirty-five soldiers were appointed to 
 receive that amount from the officials of Katarif. And when 
 they were coming to Galabat, Mahmood Bey, the above-named, 
 took the money from them and left the officer to go his way. 
 We wrote at the time to the Mudiriyeh about it, telling what 
 Mahmood had done, and also to his Excellency, Mahhmood 
 Bey, and received his reply (denying) that the sum had been 
 given to him at all, and refusing to have any more commu- 
 nication on the subject. And we made copy of what Ave re- 
 ceived from him, and we wrote about him to the Mudiriyeh, 
 and his answer is preserved by us in case of necessity. 
 (Signed) Salehh Ibrahim. 
 Nazir and Ma'amoor of Kalabat (District 
 Inspector and Officer.) 
 
 Date, 1 of Zu'l Heijeli, 1301. 
 Sept. 22, 1884. 
 
 Postscript. — Sir, We learn from the Mudiriyeh of Saka 
 (by letter) of this date of what the energy of your Excellency 
 has done there to impede and repulse the rebels. They are 
 joyful to-day at not being besieged as hitherto, and the neigh- 
 bourhood is pretty clear at present. At this date there is per- 
 fect safety, on account of the water, from their being sur- 
 rounded. After this month the crossing of the rivers will 
 become possible, and (then) without doubt the rebels will be 
 able to get at them. Your servant is constantly writing to the 
 General of his troops to be always wide awake, and to look out 
 for the preservation and the safety of the honour of the Gov- 
 ernment. 
 
 Always, Sir, at your order, 
 
 Salehh Ibrahim.
 
 450 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNALS. 
 
 From the Greek Consul at Adowato General Gordon. 
 
 Adowa (Abyssinia), 5/17 August, 1884. 
 
 My Dear General, 
 
 I arrived in Abyssinia on the 12 /24 May, sent by my 
 Government to aid tiae mission of Admiral Hewett at the 
 Court of His Majesty the Emperor John. 
 
 Thanks to the intelligence and the good feeling of His 
 Majesty, aided by my counsels, the mission of the Admiral has 
 completely succeeded. 
 
 In Egypt and in England we have been for four months 
 without news from you, in spite of all the attempts wliich have 
 been made to obtain news from you. 
 
 In England they have prepared an expedition of 15,000 
 men for the Nile, commanded by Lord Wolseley, besides 
 wliich the Emperor John will put himself in the field after the 
 Haref with a great ai'my. Take courage, then. Give me 
 news of you that I may send them to England. 
 
 The messenger is sent by the Emperor John, whom I have 
 caused to understand the urgent need of nev/s from you. You 
 must not detain the messenger more than two days. 
 
 I wish you all honour and glory in your mission, and 
 I am your devoted friend, 
 
 MiTZAKIS. 
 
 From Greek Consul Mitzakis, dated 24th August, to Greek Consul, 
 Kartoum, received 20th October, 1884. 
 
 Adowa (Abyssinia), 5/17 August, 1884. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 His Majesty's Government is much affected at the mis- 
 fortunes of the Greeks in the Soudan, and has ordered me to 
 come here, in order that by my relations with His Majesty the 
 Emperor John, I may help the Greeks in the Soudan, and give 
 them news. 
 
 His Majesty's Government is much distressed about its 
 subjects, because there has been no news for four months of 
 His Excellency Gordon Pasha, in spite of all the efforts of the 
 Governments of England and of Egyjit. 
 
 The Most Christian Emperor John, to whom I have spoken 
 of the great interest of England and Greece in the Soudan, 
 has promised me to send this letter by Metemma^ (Galabat) 
 by a trusty messenger, who will return, bringing your answer 
 and a letter from His Excellency Gordon Pasha, to whom I 
 also write. Therefore I beg you to be so good as to write to 
 me all your news, that is to say, if the siege is very strict ; if 
 
 1 Galabat, Kalabiit, and Jletenima are the same place.
 
 APPENDICES. 451 
 
 the Mahdi himself is at the head of the besiegers ; if you 
 have provisions and mnnitions, and for how many months ; 
 how many Greeks and Europeans there are in Kartoum, 
 together with their names ; how many sokliers have you, and 
 what is the spirit of the sokliers and the inhabitants of the 
 town, and all other important news. 
 
 It must be thoroughly understood that you are to send back 
 the messenger at the earliest possible moment, and give him a 
 letter, in very small form, in order that he may conceal it in 
 safety. 
 
 1 am surprised that you have not sent any letter by Me- 
 temma or by Walkeit. 
 
 If you can send me letters by Metemma, you must address 
 them to the Governour-General Gondar Axum-Gabroun ; or by 
 Walkeit, to the Governour Degias-tessema. 
 
 Hoping that your siege will soon be raised, 
 
 I am, &c., 
 
 The Consul. 
 
 [Notice.] 
 
 The English Admiral Hewett has come here, and has signed 
 the Convention of the Emperor John with the Egyptian Gov- 
 ernment, by which Abyssinia takes Bogos,^ Kassala, Katarif, 
 and the right of importing and exporting merchandize and 
 arms by the port of Massowa. 
 
 Even while I am writing, the Egyptians are giving up Bogos 
 to Eas-Aloula (the Abyssinian Commander-in-Chief). 
 
 In England 15,000 soldiers are preparing to come to relieve 
 Kartoum, and I trust that an expedition of from 100,000 to 
 200,000 brave men will start to save you. 
 
 If there is a messenger who can bring your letter to Me- 
 temma (or Galabat) or to Walkeit you can promise him what- 
 ever you wish, and we will pay him, because the English Gov- 
 ernment has a great interest in General Gordon. 
 
 I am, yours, &c. 
 
 APPENDIX R. (249.) 
 
 From Slatin Bey. 
 
 His Excellenc)' Gordon Pasha, Governor-General of the Soudan. 
 
 Your Excellency, 
 
 I have sent two letters, one by George Calamatino and 
 the other by my servant, without having received an answer 
 from your Excellency, neither has Consul Hansall answered 
 me. 
 
 2 This territory is called Bof^os by the Abyssiuians, and Seuheitby 
 the Egyptians. Its capital is Keren.
 
 452 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNALS. 
 
 Your Excellency, I have fought twenty-seven times for the 
 Government against the enemy, and they have beaten me 
 twice, and I have done nothing dishonourable, nothing which 
 should hinder your Excellency from writing me an answer, 
 that I may know what to do. 
 
 They have taken the little steamer at Dar-Djumna, after it 
 passed the Sehelal of the Robatat, and they have brought the 
 whole of the letters from Kartoum for Cairo here. In order to 
 assure you that they have taken the steamer, they have sent 
 your Excellency some letters, and I have done all that I could 
 to send your Military Journal,^ because it may be, perhaps, of 
 some value for your Excellency. 
 
 . I hope that Consul Hansall has made a translation of my 
 letter, in which I place all my feeble services to your Excel- 
 lency's disposal, and I have been obliged to write in German, 
 because they have burnt my French dictionary, believing that 
 it was a prayer book. 
 
 His Excellency Stewart Pasha, with nine men, is dead. 
 They have taken the others to Berber. 
 
 When you have a letter for Dongola I beg you to send it me, 
 and I will find means of sending it on. 
 
 Your scribe has written a despatch in cipher, half Arabic and 
 half cipher, so badly, that they have been able to decipher it, 
 and so they have found a key to your despatches, and have 
 also deciphered your Excellency's despatch to his Excellency 
 Towfik Pasha. If there are letters from Europe for me at the 
 post, I beg you to send them me, because it is almost three 
 years since I have had any news of my family. I entreat your 
 Excellency to honour me with an answer. 
 
 Your devoted and obedient servant, 
 
 Slatin. 
 
 I and Seid Gjoma, Mudir of Fascher, are seeking occasion to 
 enter Omdurman co remain with you. Pray, Excellency, do 
 your best to give us permission, because we are always in fear 
 of spies. I pray God that He may give you success in the 
 siege. 
 
 P. S. — If your Excellency has perhaps understood that I 
 have done anything contrary to the honour of an officer, and if 
 that hinders you from writing to me, I pray you give me a 
 chance of defending myself, and judge according to truth. 
 
 8 Evidently Colonel Stewart's journal.
 
 APPENDICES. 453 
 
 APPENDIX T. 
 
 From the Mitdir of Sennaar. 
 
 To the Governor -General of the Soudan and its dependencies, to His 
 Excellenc}' tlie Honourable. 
 
 We stated to youf Excellency that on Oct. 6, 1884, we had 
 the honour to receive the order of your Excellency, dated 
 September 24, announcmg the arrival of nine regiments of the 
 braves of the English army and Moslems of India ; artillery, 
 cavalry, and infantry of the army, experienced in passing 
 mountains, plains, and rough places, with new cannons and 
 powerful horses. And our reading it to the public and pub- 
 lishing it in the country produced great rejoicing and hapj)!- 
 ness in all, and they augured all good and every benefit, and 
 they are all praying for victory and success for you and for 
 the army. And please God they are arrived at Berber and 
 have taken possession of it, and have arrived at Kartoum. 
 Everybody at Sennaar and the neighbourhood — Ulema, mer- 
 chants, citizens, notables, officers, and soldiers — kiss the 
 hands of your Excellency, and we proclaim about your Excel- 
 lency, that by the power of God and His protection, and by the 
 help of our projihet — on whom and on his peoj^le be the best 
 of blessings and peace — the disturbances of the Soudan and 
 the pretensions of the Mahdi are stojjped, and nothing remains 
 thereof but little trifles in some parts. And they will all sub- 
 mit to the sword of the Government. 
 
 To God belongs success, and help is in Him. 
 Mudir General of Sennaar, 
 
 (Signed) Hassan Sadik. 
 
 Dated 18 Zu'l Hejje, 1-301. 
 Oct. 9, 188i. 
 
 Postscript to his Excellency. — We beg your Excellency to 
 give orders for the quick despatch of a steamer with what we 
 asked for in our (letter) laid before you, No. 39 / 14. 
 
 APPENDIX U. 
 
 Letter from the Mahdi to General Gordon. 
 
 In the name of God the merciful and compassionate : praise 
 be to God, the bountiful Ruler, and blessing on our lord Ma- 
 homed with peace. 
 
 From the servant who trusts in God — Mahomed the son of 
 Abdallah. 
 
 To Gordon Pasha of Kartoum : may God guide him into the 
 path of virtue, amen !
 
 454 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNALS. 
 
 Know that your small steamer, n&vaed Ahhas — which you 
 sent with the intention of forwarding your news to Cairo, by 
 the way of Dongola, tlie persons sent being your representa- 
 tive Stewart Pasha and the two Consuls, French and English, 
 with other persons, has been captured by the will of God. 
 
 Those who believed in us as the Mahdi, and surrendered, 
 have been delivered ; and those who did not were destroyed 
 — as your representative afore-named, with the Consuls and 
 the rest — whose souls God has condemned to the fire and to 
 eternal misery. 
 
 That steamer and all that was in it have fallen a prey to 
 the Moslems, and we have taken knowledge of all the letters 
 and telegrams which were in it, in Arabic and in Frankish 
 (languages), and of the maps, which were opened to us (trans- 
 lated) by those on whom God has bestowed His gifts, and has 
 enlightened their hearts with faith, and the benefits of willing 
 submission. Also (we have found therein) the letters sent 
 from you to the Mudir of Dongola, with the (letters, &c.) ac- 
 companying, to be forwarded to Egypt and to European coun- 
 tries. All has been seized, and the contents are known. It 
 should have been returned to you, not being wanted here ; 
 but as it was originally sent from you, and is known unto you, 
 we prefer to send you part of the contents and mention the 
 property therein, so that you may be certified ; and in order 
 that the truth may make a lasting impression on thy mind — 
 in the hope that God xnay guide thee to the faith of Islam, and 
 to surrender ; that you and your followers may surrender to 
 Him and to us, that so you and they may obtain everlasting 
 good and happiness. 
 
 Now first (among the documents seized) is the cipher dated 
 Sept. 22, 1884, sent to Mustafa Jawer, Mudir of Dongola, in 
 answer to his letter dated 30th August, 1884, European reck- 
 oning, (saying) that you have given him the rank of Liwa — on 
 the back of which is your telegram to the Khedive of Egypt, 
 asking that he will confirm the said appointment. We have 
 also taken knowledge of (extracts from) the Journal ^ (daily 
 record) of the provision in the granary (as) seen by the Inspec- 
 tor Moosa Othman, namely, 3,374 ardebs of dhoora ; 4 ardebs 
 and \ and \ of wheat, &c. Also (extracts from) the Journal* 
 (daily register) of the ammunition seized by the Inspector Mo- 
 hamed, dated Aug. 18, 1884 — number (? of cartridges) in 
 store being 581,395. 
 
 Also of the telegram sent to the Khedive of Egypt, and 
 Nubar Pasha, and to the English Consul-General, from nine- 
 teen persons who have put their seals to it, and who are presi- 
 dents of the Court of Appeal, (namely) Hassan Abdul Munam, 
 
 * Colonel Stewart's Journal.
 
 APPENDICES. 456 
 
 and the members and the merchants, -who pray (therein) that 
 the Soudan Railway, which the Egyptian Government find it 
 difficult to make, (may be) exchanged for river steamers and 
 military stations, with telegraphic lines between the stations.^ 
 
 Further, (there is) the letter (found) with the French Con- 
 sul, written by you to him on July 12, 1884, No. 512 / 38, in 
 acknowledgment of the 100 francs distributed to the poor and 
 needy. 
 
 (There is) also your letter dated August 28, 1884, No. 35 / 
 144, sent to Nubar Pasha and to the English Consul-General, 
 and to the Chief of the Egyptian Treasury, with information 
 about the 50,000 guineas sent from Egypt to Berber, and cap- 
 tured by the auxiliaries of the faith, and mentioning the ad- 
 vances (made) by the merchants at interest of one piastre per 
 100 piastres, with the hope of paying it back to the principals 
 or their agents in that part. 
 
 (There is) also your communication dated August 26, 1884, 
 No. 34 / 144, sent to the President of the Council, with a list 
 of sixteen persons, in which you ask for confirmation of the 
 rank which you have bestowed on them. 
 
 Also your letter, No. 1 / 141, dated August 14, 1884, to the 
 Mohurdar (Keeper of the Seals) of the Khedive, as to dis- 
 posal of the four decorations you have given, and of which you 
 enclose a specimen. 
 
 Also (as to) the ranks of the officers named by you, and the 
 note containing eleven names, like Nuehr Bey Mahomed, Com- 
 mandant of tlie Army of Sennaar, whom you made Liwa 
 (General). 
 
 Also your telegram, dated Sept. 3, 1884, No. 23, to the 
 afore-mentioned Mohurdar (Keeper of Seals), to confirm the 
 appointment of rbrahim Foozi, and Mohamed Nefii, and Moosa 
 Shoki as Liwas (Generals). 
 
 Also your letters, (written) in European (language), all 
 about the siege of Kartoum, and all about the arranging of the 
 steamers, with the number of the troops in them, and their 
 arms, and the cannon, and about the movements of the troops, 
 and the defeat of your people, and your request for reinforce- 
 ments, even if oidy a single regiment, and all about how your 
 agent Cuzzi turned Moslem. 
 
 Also many letters which had come to you from our lieuten- 
 ants, and what they contained of advice ; also stating the num- 
 ber of Europeans at Kartoum, 3 English, 2 Austrians, 1 Prus- 
 sian, 1 Frenchman, 4 Italians, 40 Greeks. 
 
 Also the diary (registry) of the arms, ammunition, guns and 
 soldiers sealed by Faraj (Ferratch) ez Zainy, Commander of 
 the Army, which has 2 Krupp guns and 284 shells ; 11 moun- 
 
 s Suggests that, in place of the railway from Wady Haifa, the Cata- 
 racts be passed as suggested by General Gordon.
 
 456 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNALS. 
 
 tain field-pieces, and their ammunition (? cartridges), number- 
 ing 2,303 ; 2 matchlock guns and their ammunition, 315 ; 5 
 mortars and their amuauuition, 565 ; and 1 field-piece, and 2 
 mitrailleuses without ammunition ; and 8 howitzers (?) and 
 their ammunition, 599 ; and 7,064 Remington rifles, and 1,205 
 percussion muskets ; and 246 muskets (called) arshalik ; and 
 127 rifles, old bore, and 19 pistols ; and the ammunition (car- 
 tridges) for the Remingtons being 150,233 packets. And the 
 nuniber of the soldiers : 2 Li was (Generals), 2 Colonels, 5 
 Lieut.-Colonels, and so on for other grades, and 2,370 pri- 
 vates ; the contingent of Bashi-Bazouk, and of the Shaggyeh 
 and Khotriyeh and others, the amount of their strength (being) 
 26 divisions, numbering 4,797 men. Also giving the number 
 of the servants of the arsenal and on the steamers, ship by 
 ship. 
 
 We have also taken knowledge of the two letters of Salehh, 
 the Melek of the Sanjak (district) of Sanik, which he gave up 
 to us (the Mahdi). 
 
 One of them, dated April 30, 1884, in which he threatens 
 (this) ; and the second, dated May 1, in which he states that 
 which he has already stated, and in which he asks for his 
 reward. 
 
 We have also noted the telegram of the officials and of the 
 presidents of courts, and of the Kadi and the Muftis and 
 Ulema, numbering 34, sent to the Mohurdar of the Khedive in 
 Egypt, dated August 28, 1884, in which they ask for succour 
 from the Egyptian Government ; to which was attached your 
 note to the Mudir of Dongola on account of his drafts. Also 
 your cipher telegrams, one of which is dated August 8, 1884, 
 to the Mohurdar of the Khedive, in which you explain that on 
 your arrival at Kartoum the impossibility had become clear to 
 you of withdrawing the troops and the employes, and sending 
 them to Egypt ; on account of the disturbances (rebellions) 
 in the country, and the cutting (closing) of the roads ; for 
 which reason j^ou ask for reinforcements, which did not come 
 until that happened which has hajjpened to the Mudiriyeh of 
 Berber. 
 
 Also about your coming to Kartoum with seven men after 
 the annihilation of Hicks's army ; and your requesting a tele- 
 gram to be sent to you in Arabic, in plain language about the 
 Soudan, to show to the people of Kartoum — as the telegrams 
 in European cipher do not exjjlain enough, except only certain 
 news (matters), and their meaning is not intelligible, except 
 only certain things (which are understood). 
 
 And also (you refer) to the useless waste of time, so much 
 so, that from your repeated promises to the people of Kartoum 
 about arrival of reinforcements, you have appeared to themi 
 as if you were a liar.
 
 APPENDICES. 457 
 
 Also (about) your asking for Turkish troops and your prom- 
 ise to send your representative, Stewart, and Mr. Power to 
 Dongola, both of whom the Most High God has destroyed. 
 
 And the second (telegram) with the same date and the same 
 tenor, to the President of the Council and the English Minister 
 in Cairo. 
 
 And the third (telegram) dated August 28, 1884, to the 
 Mohurdar (of the Khedive), in which j'ou promise to send a 
 detachment to attack Sheikh el Obeyed ; which you sent, and 
 the Most High God has destroyed. 
 
 Also your letter to the Khedive of Egypt, without date, in 
 which you ask to have English soldiers sent, and appoint Zu- 
 bair Pasha with reinforcements for withdrawal of the Egyp- 
 tian troops to Egypt, and that you (will) give the Soudan to 
 the Sultan on the arrival of the reinforcements of 200,000 
 men. And (you state that) if this be not done, those in the 
 Soudan will be killed, and their blood will be on their con- 
 science (i. e. those to whom he writes will be responsible for 
 their deaths). And the last you say in it (is) that Mahomed 
 Ali Pasha is the only and single one in the Soudan on whom 
 you (could) rely to take your place. But God has destroyed 
 Mohammed Ali Pasha, on whom you rely. 
 
 The fourth telegram is dated August 28, to the Khedive of 
 Egypt, and to Nubar Pasha and the English Consul in Egypt, 
 in which you say that you were expecting the reinforcements, 
 before asked for — by way of Merowe — and also state the 
 telegrams sent to the above-named at that date ; in which you 
 speak about fighting my auxiliaries, and about your having 
 provisions for five months. 
 
 Also the telegram, dated August 25, 1884, to the above- 
 mentioned, in which you pretend (suppose) that Ibrahim el 
 Obeyed has been killed. And you say that you have the news 
 of our arrival, which, however, was not confirmed. 
 
 And your letter to the President of the Council and the 
 English minister in Cairo, dated August 8, 1884, in which you 
 speak of your appointing three steamers to go and inquire as 
 to the state of Sennaar, and that you will send soldiers to Ber- 
 ber by the steamers to re-capture it, sending with them Stewart 
 and the Consuls, whom the Most High God has destroyed. 
 
 And the telegram, dated August 8, 1884, sent to the Presi- 
 dent of the Council and the English Minister, in which you 
 promise to send 2,000 soldiers to Berber for recovering it, and 
 (say) that unless the reinforcements come to strengthen Ber- 
 ber, when the water of the Nile gets lower the same thing will 
 happen again to Berber which had (already) happened. 
 
 Also your telegram to the Khedive of Egypt and Nubar 
 Pasha, dated Sept. 8, 1884, in which you say it was your pur- 
 pose to remove those (the garrison, &c.) at Sennaar, but that 
 
 ^0
 
 458 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNALS. 
 
 you saw th?.t it would not be done ; and (you mention) the 
 sorrow of tlie inhabitants and of the employes at Kartoum 
 and Sennaar at the non-arrival of succour. 
 
 Also the telegram, dated Sept. 9, to the Khedive of Egypt 
 and Nubar Pasha and to the General, in which you speak of the 
 sending of Stewart and those with him by the small steamer, 
 and (with) the two large steamers escorting them for protec- 
 tion. And that you had so many times already asked for suc- 
 cour, aud had deep anxiety for the state of the Soudan. 
 
 And (stating) that you had received no answer whatever, 
 so that the people had become disgusted. 
 
 Also your telegram, dated August 28, 1884, stating that (as 
 to) the Firman emanating from the Khedive to all the nobles 
 and notables and people of the Soudan, announcing the with- 
 drawal of the troops of the Government from it, and their 
 evacuation of the country, (and) leaving it to the Soudanese 
 to appoint rulers of the country from among the natives, — 
 you had not been able to commuuicate or to show it to anybody 
 on account of what had taken place. 
 
 Also (we have seen) the two seals engraved ^vith our name 
 to imitate our seal. 
 
 We never miss any of your news, nor what is in your inner- 
 most thoughts, and about the strength and support — not of 
 God — on which you rely. We have now understood it all. 
 
 Tricks in making ciphers, and using so many languages, are 
 of no avail. 
 
 From the Most High God, to whom be praise, no secrets can 
 be hidden. 
 
 As to your expecting reinforcements, reliance for succour on 
 others than God, that will bring you nothing but destruction, 
 and (cause you to) fall into utmost danger in this world and 
 the next. « 
 
 For God most High has dispersed sedition through our mani- 
 festation, and has vanquished the wicked and obstinate people, 
 and has guided those who have vmderstanding to the way of 
 righteousness. 
 
 And there is no refuge but in God, and in obedience to His 
 command, and that of His Prophet and of Plis Mahdi. 
 
 No doubt you have heard what has happened to your breth- 
 ren, from whom you expected help, at Suakin and elsev,'here, 
 whom God has destroyed, and dispersed aud abandoned. 
 
 Notwithstanding all this, as we have now arrived at Mushra' 
 el Koweh', at a day's journey from Omdurman, and are coming, 
 please God, to your place, if you return to the Most High 
 God, and become a Moslem, and surrender to His order and 
 that of His Prophet, and believe in us as the Mahdi, send us 
 a message from thee, and from those with thee, after laying 
 down your arms and giving up the thought of fighting, so that
 
 APPENDICES. 459 
 
 I may send you one with safe conduct, by which you will obtain 
 (assurance of) benefit of the blessing in this world and the 
 next. Otherwise, and if you do not act thus, you will have to 
 encounter war from God and His Prophet. And know that 
 the Most High God is mighty (able) for thy destruction, as He 
 has destroyed (others) before thee, who were much stronger 
 than thou, and more numerous. 
 
 And you, and your children, and your property, will be for a 
 prey to the Moslems, and you will re^jent when repentance will 
 not avail. For, after the beginning of the battle were you to 
 surrender, it would be from fear, and not willingly, and that 
 will not be accepted. 
 
 And there is no succour or strength but in God, and peace 
 be upon those who have followed the Guidance.^ 
 
 Dated (Wednesday) 7th day 2nd of Moharram, 1302. 
 Oct. 22, 1884. 
 
 Postscript. — In one of your cipher telegrams sent to Bahhri 
 and seized, you mention that the troops present in Bahr Gazelle 
 and the Equator and elsewhere (number) 30,000 soldiers, 
 whom you cannot leave behind, even though you should die. 
 
 And know that Bahr Gazelle and the Equator are both of 
 them under our hand (power), and that both have followed us 
 as Mahdi, and that they and their chief and all their officers 
 are now among the auxiliaries of the Mahdi. And they have 
 joined our lieutenant in that part, and letters from them are 
 constantly coming and gomg without hindrance or diminution 
 of numbers. 
 
 And here inclosed are two letters of those which we have 
 received from our agents (lieutenants) there. On seeing them 
 thou wilt understand and know if Bahr Gazelle is (or not) in 
 thy possession as thou thinkest, or whether it forms part and 
 parcel of the Mahdi's dominions. 
 
 And for thy better information, and in our compassion for 
 thee and the worshippers of God (with thee), we have thought 
 of adding this postscript, and so that you should see clearly 
 what to do, this postscript was necessary. 
 
 (Seal.) There is no God but (God) Allah. 
 
 Mahomed is the prophet of (God) Allah. 
 Mahomed the Mahdi (son of) Abd-Allah. 
 (Year) 1292. 
 
 This Seal is square, and-very large. It is roughly engraved, 
 and the inscription forms a triplet, each line ending with the 
 name of God. 
 
 The letter is altogether written on one side of a very large 
 sheet of paper. 
 
 6 The word Mahdi signifies guide.
 
 460 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNALS. 
 
 APPENDIX Va. 
 
 (Enclosure in U.) 
 
 Letter from Mohammed Sheikh ISrnhammed Kerkasawi to Achmet, son 
 of Suleiman. 
 
 In the name of God the Merciful and Compassionate. Praise 
 be to God the Supreme Ruler, and blessing and peace upon 
 our lord Mahomed and his successois with salutation. 
 
 From tlie Fakir of God, the humble and lowly, Mahomed 
 Sheikh Mahomed Kerkasawi to our brother and beloved in 
 God, to 
 
 Achmed, son of Suleiman, Receiver General of the Treasury 
 of the Moslems. May God preserve him. Amen ! 
 
 After praying for the peace of God and His blessing and 
 mercy upon you ; if you inquire after me (I can say that) I 
 am by God's help in possession of all the conditions of good 
 health. 
 
 As to the information which we have to give you (it) is that 
 on the arrival of the Emir Karm lUah Sheikh Mohammed in 
 the parts of the Bahr Gazelle and the neighbourhood of Sir- 
 kua, your servant had been appointed to the office of gather- 
 ing in the crops ; and we had not received news of his arrival, 
 excepting from the letter which reached us from the Emir 
 Abdullah,^ surnamed Bilbitn, in which he asked my presence 
 at the seat of the Mudiriyeh. On my arrival at the seat afore- 
 named, I got to know positively about that, and after that I 
 tried, with the Emir Abdullah, to obtain the consent and sur- 
 render (of the people there) without delay. 
 
 In the interval there came two dervishes from the Emir 
 Karm Illah ; in their hands were several letters to us and to 
 some of the brethren, and to the Emir Abdullah, 
 
 After these letters had been carefully read by us, the Emir 
 Abdullah stopped the (carrying out of the) surrender to the 
 Emir (Karm Illah), because no letter had been sent to him 
 to his (own) address by his Highness. 
 
 So we and all the brethren used our utmost efforts with him, 
 (urging) the desirableness of (his) sending a letter from him 
 to the Emir Karm Illah, requesting him (tlie latter) to send 
 (on) the letter of his Highness that it might be considered, 
 and as to settling the mode of surrender. And this was done. 
 When the letter was written, I received it, and went with it in 
 compa'.iy of the two dervishes above-named, and with us went 
 the Sheikh Wakia' Allah Edrisi and ]\Iahomed Salim esh 
 Shareef ; and Haj Omar, all of them of the inliabitants of this 
 
 6 Lupton Bey's assumed name.
 
 APPENDICES. 461 
 
 seat (of the Mudiriyeli), they bemg appointed with me by 
 order of the Emir Abdullah for bringing quickly the Procla- 
 mation written by H. E. the Mahdi. 
 
 On our arrival at (the place of) Karm lUah, and on his 
 reading the letter of the said Emir (Abdallah), he ordered 
 copy to be made of the Proclamation and gave it to me. 
 Those appointed with me of the inhabitants of the seat (of the 
 Mudiriyeli) also wrote a message as they remained with the 
 Emir Kami Illah. On receiving the letter from the afore- 
 named, I came back with it to the Emir Abdullah, who on 
 reading it with intelligence, in the presence of the brethren, 
 all of them became delighted and filled with happiness and 
 joy which could not be exceeded. 
 
 Especially the Emir Abdullah obeyed and accepted (the 
 terms of) the proclamation of his Highness ; and so everything 
 was settled with the help of God, the Lord to whom worship 
 (is due). 
 
 All the brethren are longing to see his Highness, and so the 
 letters were written from the Emir Abdullah and the brethren 
 in the form of a deed (compact) of submission by them, and 
 of obedience to the Emir Karm Illah, appointed by his High- 
 ness the Mahdi, which I took, and went to the town of Yanikah, 
 the place where the afore-named Emir was encamped ; and I 
 delivered it to him, and on his reading and understanding it, 
 his countenance expressed joy thei'eat. And he wrote a letter 
 to the Emir Abdullah, informing him of his being about to 
 leave the town of Yanikah, and to come to the seat of the 
 Mudiriyeli on Tuesday, the 25th of Jamad el Akhar, 1301, and 
 he gave the safe conduct for all — for themselves, their fami- 
 lies, and their property. And, praise be to God Most High, 
 on the day named we and the Emir Karm Illah, and the 
 troops with him, arrived at an hour's distance from the seat 
 (of the Mudiriyeli). And the Emir Abdullah and all the 
 notables and the brethren came to meet us outside of the 
 wooden stockade surrounding the seat (of the Mudiriyeli). 
 The meeting was like the iiieetmg of dear friends with each 
 other, and it was a memorable day for all that was accom- 
 plished therein, and for the filling up of (our) joy. 
 
 On our entering the Mahhkameh (Court of Justice) of the 
 Mudiriyeli, and on the friends and the Emirs being seated, the 
 Emir Abdullah rose, and, standing ujiright, uttered the two 
 declarations of testimony, saying, " I testify that there is no 
 God but God ; and I testify that our Lord Mohammed is the 
 prophet of God, blessing be upon him, and that the (Sey3'ed '') 
 Lord Mohammed, son of the Lord Abdullah, he (is) the Mahdi 
 and Khalif of God and His prophet." Likewise (after this) 
 
 ■'The term Seyyed (Lord) is given ouly to the reputed descendants 
 (or family) of Mahommed.
 
 462 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNALS. 
 
 the two Copts Gabriel B'abal and Salehh Shaiioocla, became 
 Moslems, and uttered the two testimonies before the Emir 
 Karm Illah (who received their profession of faith). 
 
 After which all (the property) which was in the stores of 
 the Mudiriyeh, situated in the seat (thereof) and elsewhere, 
 became the property of the Treasury of Islam, as stated in the 
 letters of the Emir Karm lUah sent to his Highness. 
 
 And we pray God Most High, to whom be praise, that Ha 
 may soon grant us the favour of a journey (Hejira) to the 
 honoured place, that we may be blessed with sight of his Ex- 
 cellency the Mahdi, and that we may be included in the num- 
 ber of the warriors on the way (for the truth) of God. 
 
 I send from me to their Excellencies (the Hanifs) the nobles, 
 and Emirs, and friends, and acquaintances who fight for God, 
 thousands of salaams of God so long as I live. 
 
 (Signed) Mohammed Shaikh Mohammed. 
 
 "Written 17 Ramadan, 1301. 
 July 11, 188i. 
 
 APPEXDIX U6. 
 
 (Enclosure in U.) 
 
 In the name of God, the merciful and compassionate, &c. 
 
 From the servant of his Lord, the Fakir, Karam Utah, Sheikh Moham- 
 med at Bahr el Gazele to the relation of the Mahdi and Emir of the 
 army of the JIahdi, the Khalif Abdallah Ben of the Seyyed Moham- 
 med. May his glory be prolonged. 
 
 After paying our dutiful salutations and respectful compli- 
 ments, if you inquire about us (we can say) all praise to the 
 Most High, all is well, and I have the honour to announce to 
 you we have captured a large number of (female) slaves as 
 booty ; and tliat about 1,330 head of slaves have already been 
 sent to Shakka,* including 200 slaves of Kanawi (of) Alyoo, 
 which family passes to the Moslem Treasury (i.e. their value); 
 and this (was done) in three divisions the first time (under 
 convoy of ) the Fakih Ahlimed Mohammed, the Shakiyi ; the 
 second (party) wliich is considered the most numerous, (under 
 convoy of ) our brotlier Mohammed Sheikh Mohammed Kar- 
 kasawi, and the third under convoy of the conductor Moham- 
 med Salehh et Toom ; (being) needed for buying (barter for) 
 horses for use of our auxiliaries, with the knowledge of our 
 brother INIohammed el Karkasawi. And those which may be 
 sent to your honour to the noble camp (i. e. the Malidi's camp), 
 will be also with his knowledge, as he has already been ap- 
 pointed from here for that purpose. 
 
 8Shakka is often pronounced Shagga.
 
 APPENDICES. 463 
 
 Also all the Fakirs, our auxiliaries, have been distributed in 
 the different zerebas in order to collect the booty. And, please 
 God, all that can be got will be sent to Shaka by degrees 
 (as captured). And Mahomed Sheikh Mohammed Karkasawi 
 is my brother (son) of my father and mother — older than me, 
 and he it is who helped us to take the town of Bahr Ghazel — 
 and in consideration of his good management we have ap- 
 pointed him (to go) to Shaka to barter slaves for horses. And 
 the slaves wdiich may be sent to your Honour will be with his 
 knowledge and by his instructions. And as the slaves taken 
 as booty are exceedingly numerous in this part, and are con- 
 tinually arriving at the camp of the Mudir, we are much pressed 
 in despatching them and in looking after them. 
 
 If it is agreeable to your Honour (please) to write to Sheikh 
 Manzal Hamid, and the sons of Hamad l)odao, about their 
 giatuitous assistance, and their surrendering the booty to our 
 brother. Shaikh Mohammed Karkasawi. We are at present 
 awaiting the orders of your Excellency, (whether) to remain 
 here or to come to you, or to wait for tlie drying up of the 
 waters of the rain, out of compassion (in consideration for) 
 the believers (the slaves) who have little infants. 
 
 And we pray the most high God, to whom be praise, to bring 
 us soon together witli your Excellency. 
 
 Salaam ! (Signed) Karam Illah Maiiomed. 
 
 Dated 22 Sha'aban, 1301. 
 June 17, 1884. 
 
 Postscript. — My Lord, after what I have stated to you, your 
 servant awaits your orders ; if your answer is that I should 
 wait (here) or otherwise. 
 
 This is (all) that is needful (to write). Salaam. 
 
 APPENDIX UfZ. 
 
 Copy of Telegram from his Exf^ellencv Gordon Pa?ha to his Excellency 
 Ferratch Ullah Bey, Commandant of Omdurman 
 
 Sheikh Mahomed Aehmed has sent us a letter to inform us 
 that Lupton Bey, Mudir of Bahr Gazelle, has surrendered to 
 him, and that the small steamer in which was Stewart Pasha 
 has been captured by him, together with what was therein. 
 And he demands that we should surrender to him. 
 
 But to me it is all one whether Lupton Bey has surrendered 
 or has not surrendered. And whether he has captured twenty 
 thousand steamers like the Abbas, or twenty thousand (officers) 
 like Stewart Pasha (or not) ; it is all one to me. 
 
 I am here, like; iron, and hope to see the newly-arrived Eng- 
 lish ; and if Mahomed Aclimed says that the English die, it is
 
 464 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNALS. 
 
 all the same to me. And you must take a copy of this and 
 give it to the messenger from Slatiu, and send him out early in 
 the morning, that he may go to him. It is impossible for me 
 to have any more words with Mahomed Achmed, only lead ; 
 and if Mahomed Achmed is willing to fight he had better, in- 
 stead of going to Omdurman, go to the AVhite Nile by the 
 moat. 
 
 And after this the messengers whom he wants to send 
 to us must not come by the Omdurman ; they had better 
 come by the moat afore-mentioned. And send a literal copy 
 of this, according to orders — when it has been sealed by you 
 — by the emissary of Slatin Bey to be delivered, and explain 
 to him that this is by our order. 
 
 At night. 
 
 3 of Moharram, 1302. 
 22ud October, 188-4. 
 
 The forcible sentence: "lam here like iron, and I hope to see tho 
 newly-arrived English," runs as a rhymed couplet : — 
 
 " Wa ana niawjood bona zey el hhadeed 
 Wa ashoof el Ingleez el jadeed." 
 
 This may have been accidental on the part of the scribe, for the letter is 
 ■written in Arabic, but it is worth notice. The phraseology, and even 
 the words, are General Gordon's own — as he wrote in a former letter 
 that he chose his own words by help of his dictionary, and did not 
 suSer his scribes to write only as" they pleased. 
 
 Supposed Enclosure in Mahdi's letter. 
 
 Intercepted communication from General Gordon to the Mudir of 
 Dongola. 
 
 Note (in Arabic) from General Gordon to the Mudir of Dongola. 
 
 To His Excellency the Mudir of Dongola. 
 
 Wire the telegram enclosed herein to Cairo from the station 
 at Dongola, and charge the expense to account of the Mudi- 
 riyeh (Government account). 
 
 (Signed) C. G. Gordon {across the seal). 
 
 Dated 7 ZuM Heijeli. 
 
 Sept. 28, 1884. 
 Gordon Pasha. 
 
 Written on a small piece of thin paper 4 by 4^ inches. 
 
 Au Consulat General d'Autriche-Hongrie a Caire. 
 
 KARTOUir, 21 September, 1884. 
 To-day was a joj-ful Sunday ! The inhabitants of the city 
 were stirred with joy when the salvoes of artillery announced 
 from the fort the approach of the English relieving army.
 
 APPENDICES. 465 
 
 Three express messengers brought to General Gordon an 
 autograph letter from Lord Wolseley from Debbe. Rescue 
 after all ! Long live England ! 
 
 Now at least the lives of (so many) these thousands will be 
 saved, even though goods and chattels be lost. 
 
 Yesterday the news had been already orally spread of an 
 army approaching from Dongola, but found no credence, any 
 more than many other false rumours. It was also said that 
 the first messenger who left on the 9th for Dongola had 
 passed Berber without hindrance, and will probably reach 
 Cairo in safety. 
 
 Further, I was able, on the 13th, to speak outside the city 
 lines with Georgio Calamatino, the letter-carrier of the 
 Mahdi. He was in dervish dress. I sent the missionaries 
 100 dollars by him. The Mahdi was then in Schatt, four 
 hours from Duem, with all the European prisoners, and 
 among them Slatin, who were enrolled as dervishes in the 
 armoury. (^Secret : the missionaries of both sexes have ac- 
 cepted [the religion of] Islam. The six sisters are married 
 to Greeks ; only the superior, Don Luigi Bonorn, remained 
 steadfast, but he is condemned to martyrdom unless he also 
 apostatizes). 
 
 It is to be hoped that soon after the arrival of the English 
 we may or must remove (emigrate). No one knows whether 
 they will permanently occupy the country or only effect the 
 complete evacuation. 
 
 With respect and devotion, 
 
 (Signed) M. L. Hansal, 
 
 Consulate General of Austro-Hungary, Cairo. 
 
 Also written on a small piece of thin paper. 
 
 Note (in Arabic) from General Gordon to the Mudir of Dongola. 
 
 To His Excellency the Mudir of Dongola. 
 Take from bearer Mohammed Achmet, on his safe arrival, 
 the telegrams sent by him, and forward them to their desti- 
 nation, and give him fifty dollars ; and if you have any tele- 
 grams for us send them by him that he may bring them 
 here. 
 
 (Signed) Gordon. 
 
 C. G. Gordon {icritten in pencil across the seal). 
 
 Dated 15 Shawwal, 1301. 
 
 Aug. 8, 1884. 
 Gordon Pasha iu Karloum. 
 
 Written on a small piece of thin paper 4 inches by 3.
 
 466 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNALS. 
 
 APPENDIX V. 
 
 MANIFESTO OF THE MAHDI TO THE INHABITANTS OF 
 KARTOUM. 
 
 In the year 1309. 
 
 In the name of God, the Merciful and Compassionate. 
 
 Praise be to God, the bountiful Ruler, and blessing on our 
 Lord Mahomed and his successors, with peace. 
 
 From the servant of his Lord, Mahomed the Mahdi, son of 
 the Seyyed Abdallah, to his beloved in God, the believers in 
 God, and in His Book (the Koran). 
 
 The changes (disturbances) of the times are not hidden 
 from you, nor the forsaking of the Sunnas ; and he who has 
 the (true ) faith and understanding will not be pleased thereat, 
 but will leave all he needs and his native place (house and 
 home) in defence of religion and the Sunnas ; and therefore 
 jealousy for Islam will not delay to possess in full strength 
 (the heart of) the believer. 
 
 Xow, O my beloved ! as to what the Most High God, to 
 whom be praise, has willed in His Eternity and in His decrees 
 to grant to His servant, the humble and lowly, in (bestowing 
 on him) the great Khalifate : — 
 
 The eminent Lord (Mahomed), on whom be blessing and 
 peace, several times informed me that I am the Mahdi, the 
 Expected One, and (appointed) me (as) successor^ to him- 
 self, on whom be blessing and peace, to sit on his throne, and 
 (as successors) to their Excellencies the four Khalifs and 
 Princes ^° (of the Faith), and to El Khudr, ^^ on whom be 
 peace : And God gave as my helpers, the angels (who are), 
 the Cherubim, and the saints from Adam to this our day, and 
 also the believing Jinns ; ^- and in the hour of battle the 
 eminent Lord, the Bountiful One, on Whom be blessing and 
 peace, will in person go with them before my hosts, as also 
 the four Khalifs and the Princes (of the faith), and el Khudr, 
 on whom be peace. 
 
 And He gave me the sword of victory of his Excellency 
 (Mahomed), on whom be blessing and peace ; and it was 
 made known to me that none of either race, human or Jinn, 
 can conquer him who has it. 
 
 Then said he, on whom be blessing and peace, " God has 
 given to thee a sign that thou art the Mahdi ; " which (sign) 
 
 9 The word here used is the one from which Khalif is derived. 
 
 1" This word primarily means the pole or axis of the Universe, &c. 
 
 11 The saint who is supposed to be immortal, and to have appeared 
 first as Elijah and afterwards as St. George. 
 
 1- The JMohammedans divide the Jinns (or demons) into believers 
 in Mohammed and unbelievers.
 
 APPENDICES. 467 
 
 is the mole on my right cheek ; and he likewise gave to me 
 another sign (namely, that) there should go forth before me 
 in the hour of battle a banner of light, borne by Azra'il, ^^ on 
 whom be peace, that by it God should convince my friends, 
 and terror should fall upon the hearts of my enemies, and 
 (that) God will destroy whoever should encounter me in 
 hostility. 
 
 Then he, on whoni be blessing and peace, said to me ; 
 " Thou art created out of the effulgence of my innermost 
 heart," and he to whom happiness (is granted) will believe I 
 am the Mahdi, the Expected One. But God has put hypocrisy 
 (wickedness) into the heart of those who love vain pomp, and 
 they will not believe, being greedy of their vain pomps. 
 
 Then he, on whom be blessing and peace, said : Love of 
 wealth and pomps causes hypocrisy to spring up in the heart 
 as water causes the herb to spring up ; and it is found in the 
 Athar (traditional sayings about Mahomed) : If you see 
 worldlings loving this world, charge them with it. And it is 
 found in some of the ancient books (saying) : Do not ask of 
 me a world intoxicated with love of earthly things, for it will 
 close against thee the way of my love. And these (are they 
 who like brigands) stoj) the way of (true) service (of God). 
 
 And when there came to me, O my beloved, from God and 
 His prophet the decree of the great Khalifate, He ordered me 
 (to take my) Hegira ^'* (flight) to Jebel Kadeer close by Masat, 
 and He commanded me to write thence to all entrusted with 
 public offices. I wrote thus to the Emirs and Sheikhs of 
 religion, and the wicked denied (my mission), but the righteous 
 believed ; even those who do not mind any hardship they may 
 encounter for God, nor what they fail to attain of their 
 dearest wishes ; but steadfastly regard the jDromises of the 
 most High God, to Whom be praise, in which He said that He 
 will reserve that other world for those who do not desire ex- 
 altation in this world, nor (its) corruptions. Now since it is 
 for God to decree, and since He has willed to bestow the office 
 of Mf^hdi upon His humble and insignificant servant Mahomed 
 the Mahdi, the son of the Seyyed Abdallah, it behoves us to 
 submit to the will of God ; and, seeing that it is unanimously 
 agreed by the present and past generations to attribute 
 supreme knowledge to God, and as His knowledge, to Whom 
 be praise, is not limited by control of rules nor by the 
 knowledge of the malevolent, and since God will blot out 
 (abrogate) or establish wliat He wills, and since He is the 
 source of the Book (the Koran), of which none can under- 
 stand anything save what He wills, and since with Him is the 
 key of the unknown (future), — none knows it but He, nor is 
 
 13 The Angel of Death. 
 
 w This Hegira is an evident imitation of the Flij;ht of Mahomed.
 
 468 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNALS. 
 
 He to be questioned as to what He does, — He creates what He 
 will, — He chooses and bestows His mercy on whom He will. 
 Sheikh Mohi ed Deen Ibn el Arabi especially says in his com- 
 mentary on the glorious Koran that knowledge of the Mahdi 
 is like knowledge of the hour (of resurrection), and that hour 
 none knoweth but God most High. And Sheikh Ahmed Ibn 
 Edrees said, Fourteen generations of the generations of the 
 people of God have denied the (coming of the) Mahdi. Then 
 he said : He will come forth from a place that they do not 
 know and in a condition which they will disown. 
 
 It is not hidden from your knowledge that the writings 
 about the (coming of the) Mahdi are among others the Athar 
 and the Keshef el Ulema and others ; and the conclusion of 
 them all (is), and I understand from them, that God will blot 
 out (abrogate) what passages He will, and some of these are 
 the Hadith s (traditional sayings), and among them Ed 
 Dha'eef and El Maktooa' and El Mansookh and El Mow- 
 dhooa'. The Hadith Ed Dha'eef is superseded by the Hadith 
 El Saheelih word for word. The Ayat also are replaced by 
 other Ayat.^^ And the truth as to this is not known save to 
 people of deep thought and insight. 
 
 Further, this is what the eminent Lord (Mahomed), on 
 whom be blessing and peace, said to me, " He who doubts 
 that thou art the Mahdi has blasphemed God and His 
 prophet." This he, blessing and peace be upon him, declared 
 to me thrice. 
 
 All that I have told j'ou about my succession to the office 
 of Mahdi was told to me by the eminent Lord (Mohammed), 
 on whom be blessing and peace, when I was awake and in 
 perfect health, free from all transgressions of the law, not in 
 sleep nor in (a state of) hallucination, or drunkenness or mad- 
 ness, but accounted to be of sound mind, following the tradi- 
 tions of the prophet, on whom be blessing and peace, in order- 
 ing what he ordered and forbidding what he forbade. 
 
 And my Hegira (flight) to the aforesaid places was neces- 
 sary, according to the Book (the Koran) and to the Sunnas. The 
 Most High God has said, " Those wlio have had to flee (make 
 a Hegira) for the sake of God after having been persecuted ; 
 He will give them good tilings in this world, and the reward 
 in the next will be greater. And He, on whom is blessing and 
 peace, said, " One who has fled from land to land, even though 
 it be but a handbreadth of land, has deserved Paradise, and 
 has become (in so doing) a partaker with Abraham,!^ the 
 friend of God and of Mahomed, on whom be blessing and 
 peace." 
 
 16 Verses ; usually applied to verses of the Koran. 
 
 16 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 
 idolaters.
 
 APPENDICES. 469 
 
 Thus also in other passages of the Hadiths. 
 
 And the duty of listening to God and His prophet is bind- 
 ing. The Most High God has said, " Follow the way of those 
 who are sincere to Me." 
 
 If you have understood this, we order all the chosen ones 
 to flee (make their Hegira) unto us for the Jehad (holy war) 
 in the cause of God, to the nearest town, because God Most 
 High has said, " Slay the infidels who are nearest to you ; " 
 and he who holds back from this has come wHhin the threat 
 uttered by the Most High. Say if your fathers, your sous, 
 your brethren, your wives, your tribes, the wealth you have 
 gained, the merchandise you are in fear of losing, or the 
 dwellings you delight in, are dearer to you than God and His 
 prophet and the Jehad (holy war) in His cause, then wait till 
 God shall come with His sentence (against you). (So far) 
 the Aya (verse). 
 
 The Most High has also said, " O you who have believed, 
 why do you cleave to the earth when called upon to fly (to the 
 war) for God ? Do you love the life of this world better than 
 that of the next ? But the possessions of this world will be 
 less than nothing in the other world." 
 
 The Most High has also said, " O you who have believed, 
 why do you cleave to the earth when called upon to fly (to the 
 war) for God ? Do you love the life of this world better than 
 that of the next ? But the possessions of this world will be 
 less than nothing in the other world." ^"^ 
 
 He has also said, " Seek not to fly." He will torment you 
 with eternal torments, and will accept others in your place. 
 
 Now, if you have understood the foi-egoing, hasten to us, 
 and fear none save God, for fear of the creature shows lack 
 of trust and confidence in God, from which may God preserve 
 (us). 
 
 The Most High has said, " Fear ye not man, but fear ye 
 Me ;" and the Most High has said, "Dread them not, but 
 dread Me, if ye be believers." 
 
 The Most High has said, " God is worthy to be feared ; " 
 and especially because God has promised in His precious Book 
 (the Koran) victory to him who contends for the faith. 
 
 The Most High has said, " If you fight for God, He will 
 fight for you and establish your goings." 
 
 And the Most High has said, " If you do not fight for him 
 (the Mahdi) God fighteth for him. " Because you have known 
 this, if you do not respond to him who calls (in the name) of 
 God and hasten to fight for the faith, you must receive pun- 
 ishment from God, inasmuch as you are the light of creation, 
 its strength, and its head. 
 
 IT This paragraph is thus repeated in the originaL
 
 470 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNALS. 
 
 Whoever among you is anxious about his faith and zealous 
 for the command of liis Lord will answer the call, and mil 
 join with those that fight for the religion of God. 
 
 Be it known unto you that I am of the family of the prophet 
 of God, on whom be blessing and peace. My father is a 
 Hhusni on his father's side ; and his mother, and my mother 
 likewise, on the side of both father and mother (are) Abbas- 
 sides, and God knows that I am of the blood of Hussein, and 
 these excellent indications will suffice for him who has been 
 touched by His grace and (by) the faith. 
 
 It wUl not be wonderful if some do see and do not believe it. 
 
 Fear God and join the righteous, and help one another in 
 righteousness, and in the fear of God and in the Jehad (holy 
 war) iu the cause of God, and stand firm within the boundaries 
 of God, for he who transgresses those boundaries will injure 
 himself. 
 
 Know that all things are in the hand of God. Leave all to 
 Him and rely on Him. He who makes God his support has 
 been guided into the straight way. 
 
 Peace (be with you). 
 In the year 1300. 
 
 Iu the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. 
 Praise be to God, the Bountiful Ruler, and blessing and peace 
 on our Lord Mahomed and his successors. 
 
 From the slave of his Lord, the Imam I\Iohammed the Mahdi, 
 the son of the Seyyed Abdallah, to all his beloved in God the 
 believers, men and women, in God and in Hi^ Book. 
 
 What I have to inform you is that the world is the abode of 
 him who has no (other) abode, and it is a prison to believers, 
 and that the other (world) is better, and (is) enduring, and 
 that is the abode of those who fear God. 
 
 Fear God and do 
 
 This ^lauifesto is written on four sides of a two-leaved sheet of paper, 
 and Ijreaks ofE abruptly, "and do" being written at bottom as catch- 
 word for the next page. 
 
 Specially to be noticed is the attempt made to forestall the objections 
 of those who would see that this man contradicts well known passages in 
 the ^vTitings which Jloslems hold to be authoritative. Mahomed Achmet 
 boldly declares all such passages to be either abrogated or superseded, 
 or unintelligible save to those to whom deep thought and insight are 
 given !
 
 APPENDICES. 471 
 
 APPEXDIX X. 
 
 Letter from Major Kitchener to General Gordon. 
 
 Debbeh, 1-ith October, 1884. 
 
 My dear GE^^:RAL Gordon, 
 
 Please inform me b}- this present messenger, who is paid 
 to return, who were on board the steamer that came down 
 from Kartoiim. I am sorry to say, whoever they were, they 
 have fallen into the hands of Suleiman Wady Goun, Sheikh of 
 the Minassir, ai:d have, I am afraid, been killed. Lord Wolse- 
 ley is now at Wady Haifa, and it is expected this expedition 
 will definitely start from Dongola on or about the 1st Xovem- 
 ber. Special boats are coming out from England for the pas- 
 sage up the Nile. 
 
 There are a considerable number of troops now at Dongbla. 
 I am instructed by Sir Evelyn Baring to send you the follow- 
 ing telegram from the Austrian Consul-General : — 
 
 " Caire, Ire Oct. — Je vous remercie de tout ccEur des 
 nouvelles que vous avez bien voulu me doune. J'ai fait 
 demarches pour faciliter le voyage de notre consul de Berber 
 jusqu'au Caire, mais on m'assure que les chemins de Berber h. 
 Debbeh n'est pas libre ; en tons cas je vous recommande chau- 
 demeut la seciirite persoimelle de notre consul et des sujets 
 Austro-Hongrois et Allemaud. Je serai tres heureux d'avoir 
 des nouvelles directes de M jnsieur Hausall." 
 
 I also enclose two letters ^ that have arrived here for you. 
 
 I hope you have received some of my previous letters ; I 
 have received none from you in reply. 
 
 E>'CLosrRE IN Appendix X. 
 General, 
 
 I hope you will excuse me such an interanzzo. 
 Notwithstanding they abandoned you, and they did not at 
 all follow your instructions, I hope you will be victorious, and 
 your name engraved in the history of the world. 
 I am, dear General, 
 
 Your most obedient servant, 
 
 Th. Roth. 
 
 To Lis Excellency General Gordon, Kartoiim. 
 
 Beklix, 4th May, 1884. 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 I had the honour to write you on the 10th of April, &c. 
 Meantime I permitted me to do the following : 
 On the 22ud of April I wired to Earl Granville : " For 
 Heaven's sake, help Gordon, Kartoum." 
 
 1 For one of these, see Roth's letter.
 
 472 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNALS. 
 
 And confirmed this despatch with the following letter : — 
 
 To the Eight Honourable Lord Granville, London. 
 
 Berlin, 22nd April, 1884. 
 
 " My Lord, 
 
 " I have the honour to confirm my telegram of this 
 afternoon : ' For Heaven's sake, help Gordon, Kartouni.' 
 
 " Your Lordship may be kind enough to excuse such a tele- 
 gram. 
 
 " As I am an admirer of Gordon, and as he had the kindness 
 to do his best to become liberated my brotlier Gottfried Roth, 
 who is said prisoner of the Mahdi, and to whom your Lordship 
 congratulated when he captured at Sint a band of slaveholders 
 witli several hundred slaves some years ago, I considered it a 
 duty to do something too for Gordon. And so the idea to wire 
 to your Lordship, who perhaps may be able in consequence of 
 your powerfiil position to let have Gordon what he wants. 
 
 "I have the honour, &c., &c." 
 
 I had the pleasure to receive the following letter from the 
 Secretary of State, Sir J. Pauncef ote : — 
 
 Foreign Office, 29th April, 1884. 
 "Sir, 
 
 " I am directed by Earl Granville to acknowledge the 
 receipt of your telegram and letter of the 22nd instant, urging 
 that assistance may be given to General Gordon at Kartoum. 
 
 " I am. Sir, 
 " Your most obedient humble servant, 
 
 (Signed) "J. Pauncefote." 
 
 Eoth did not get much change out of his Lordship!! 
 
 (C. G. Gordon.) 
 
 APPENDIX XL 
 
 Arabic Cypher Telegram. 
 
 Above message from Lord Wolseley, dated 20 September, 
 forwarded by messenger for second time, 15/10/84, from 
 Debbeh. 
 
 H. H. KITCHENER, 
 
 D.A.A.G. 
 This is the only paper received. 
 
 C. G. G.
 
 APPENDICES TO BOOK VI. 
 
 APPENDIX Y. 
 
 From the Khedive of Egypt. 
 
 To His Excellency Gordon Pasha, the Honourable. 
 
 (Literally "to His Felicity ! . . . — the excellent," which is the usual 
 formula.) 
 
 As it is known to you that the object of the coming of your 
 Excellency to this part, and of your going to the Soudan, is 
 only the evacuation of that neighbourhood and the withdrawal 
 of our troops, now found there, with the Government officials 
 of the realm, and the bringing hither of those inhabitants of 
 that part who may desire to come together -srith their belong- 
 ings, we trust that your Excellency will take every care in the 
 fulfilment of this Commission by employing the best means and 
 arrangements which may be necessary for the safety of those 
 troops a,nd employes, and inhabitants and merchants, both 
 native and foreign, who may desire to come to this part. 
 
 Then, after completion of this (business), you will adopt the 
 necessary means and arrangements indispensable for framing a 
 fii-m government in the Soudan provinces, that there may be 
 continuance of order in that part, and that there may be 
 security from the misfortunes (which must befall) the ignorant 
 populace (left) without a ruler. And I rely on your under- 
 standing and courage, to which is intrusted the carrying out of 
 this commission in the manner desired. 
 
 ■^ (Sealed) Mohammed Tewfik. 
 
 January 27, 1884. 
 
 (Seal of Mahomet Towfik.) 
 
 From the Khedive of Egypt and its dependencies to ail the 
 Ulema, Judges, Notables, Slaeikhs of Arabs of villages. Mer- 
 chants, and all inhabitants, both Arabs and domesticated people 
 in the Soudan countries, greeting. 
 
 It is known to all that when my grandfather Jantimgan 
 Mahomed Ali took the reigns of Government of the Lands of 
 Egypt, he began to spread knowledge and education and
 
 474 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNALS. 
 
 enlarge the sphere of agriculture and commerce throughout 
 the same, and increase the means of wealth of the inhabitants, 
 until Egypt was considered a well-cultivated and civilised coun- 
 try. After that he saw the necessity of taking (or opening up) 
 the Soudan Region, to spread out the lights of civilisation 
 therein — and God Almighty prospered him in that enterprise. 
 From that time until now these regions have not ceased to grow 
 in prosperity, until towns and market cities were established 
 and enlarged, and commerce grew, and the inhabitants became 
 enlightened by the means of commerce and agriculture. By a 
 comparison of the condition of the Soudan Regions before these 
 conquests, ■with their condition after it, it will ' clearly appear 
 that they progressed and advanced greatly during the latter 
 time. The minds of the people were enlightened by seeing 
 their own interest and prosperity. This was the only purpose 
 which moved our grandfather aforesaid to take these regions. 
 But the great distance that lies between me and you caused a 
 disintegration which had for its result the rising and rebelling 
 of some disturbers against my Government. This rebellion 
 caused great losses of money and men without any fruits at all ; 
 and the Land of Egypt sustained thereby very heavy burdens. 
 Therefore I have concluded to give back again independence to 
 the ancient families of the Kings of the Soudan Regions. And, 
 as I know that His Excellency Gordon Pasha, during his stay 
 among you, seeing that you witnessed the good results of his 
 efforts for the quiet and prosperity of the country. Therefore, 
 and also because he is deemed an able man of politics and of 
 your judgment, and desirous of your welfare. We have ap- 
 pointed him to proceed to those regions as our representative, 
 with full authority to agree with in establishing a peaceable 
 and amicable way of withdrawing from those parts, and bring- 
 ing away the officials of my Government and the troops with 
 their belongings and the property of my Government, so that 
 the departure from you may be brought about in perfect 
 security. I therefore ask of all who bear arms to tlu-ow the 
 same away, and to endeavour, with all diligence and quiet 
 and peacefulness, to form their ovm Government of the future 
 within my boundaries, and to work for the prosperity of their 
 countries, and the security of the roads at all times ; so that 
 between us and them the bonds of communication shall con- 
 tinue to exist and so that commerce shall be rendered easy, 
 which is conducive to wealth, and so that civilisation and 
 luxury may be furthered. And thus the bonds of friendship 
 may be kept up, as is dictated by the laws of humanity. 
 
 Written on the 28th dav of Eabai the First, 1301. 
 (Jauuary 26th, 1884).
 
 APPENDICES. 476 
 
 Notice published by Gordon. 
 
 Formerly the Government had decidecl to transport the 
 Egyptians down to Cairo, and abandon the Soudan : and in 
 fact some of them had been sent down during the time of 
 Hussein Pasha Yusri, as you yourseh'es saw. On our arrival at 
 Kartoum, we, on account of pity for you, and in order not to 
 let your country be destroyed, we communicated with the 
 Khedive of Egypt, our Effendi, concerning the importance and 
 the inexpediency of abandoning it. Whereupon, the orders for 
 abandoning the Soudan were cancelled ; and serious attention 
 was turned, and all energy was directed towards smothering 
 the disturbances and driving away the disturbers : therefore 
 sufficient troops were appointed, both cavalry and infantry 
 some time ago ; and indeed they have reached Dongola and 
 started in three divisions, one under the leader of the army 
 and the Mudir of Dongola is coming on to Berber : the second 
 division has the Sheikh of the Hawaweer, and is coming by 
 way of Hobaji : the third division, with Sheikh Saleh, son of 
 Salim, Sheikh of the Kababeesh, is coming to Metemma. 
 Each one of these divisions is alone sufficient to oppose all the 
 rebels. They will soon be in Kartoum. We phall increase in 
 defence of the Soudan until the arrival of the troops here, as 
 is the will of the Khedive's trade issued to us on the 14th 
 September, 1884. The Ulema and teachers of Kartoum had 
 presented a telegrana to the Khedive asking for reinforcements 
 — now an irade of the Khedive has been issued to them, a copy 
 of which is given here above. Be therefore fully reassured as 
 to yourselves and your families, and all your possessions in 
 your houses, taking no heed of what has occurred in the past. 
 If God will in the next few days the siege will be raised, and your 
 alarm will pass away. Know also that if Mohammed Achmet 
 should call upon me for three years to surrender Kartoum I 
 will not listen to him, but will protect your lives and families 
 and possessions with all energy and stedfastness. 
 
 (Signed) GORDON Pasha. 
 
 APPENDIX AB. 
 
 Translation of a letter addressefl to General Gordon bj' the Kalifa 
 Abdulla Mahommed, 10. 12. 85. 
 
 In the name of God the Merciful, the Compassionate. 
 Praise be to the Bountiful God, and blessings be upon our 
 Lord Mahomed and xipon his family. 
 
 We, the servant of God Abdallah Mohammed Jifarah, 
 one of the governors of the Mahdi, on whom be peace, on the 
 East, to Gordon, the Pasha of Ivartoum. You have paid no
 
 476 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNALS. 
 
 attention to the counsel and reasoning repeatedly sent to you, 
 but have increased in folly ; and the numerous kindly admoni- 
 tions have only made you more haughty and wayward ; be- 
 cause truth enlightens the breasts of believers, and only 
 increases the oppressors in their degenerations. Your letter 
 has reached us, in which you deceived the pojiulation, saying 
 that the British reinforcement is coming to you in three di- 
 visions, and that it will soon reach you and give you victory ; 
 thus your letter betrays the greatness of your fear, and 
 anxiety, and alarm, as in your deceit you have caught hold of 
 spider-web ropes and have feared to die at our hands ; thou 
 must inevitably die, O thou heathen ! These promises, you 
 have been holding them out since last year to the inhabitants 
 of Kartoum, and have been promising them that the English 
 will come soon. Your promise has only increased their sor- 
 rows ; and now that you are in straits, and that evil is coming 
 upon you, you are practising deceit from the interior of your 
 den {sic) in which God has imprisoned you, upon him who is iu 
 the land of peace and crowned with exceeding much honour, 
 and who is able to get the news of riders arriving from the 
 remotest regions. I ask, do the sounds, winged and free, un- 
 fettered, need news from the like of thee in the sea of billows 
 covered by waves upon wave, above which are clouds of dark- 
 ness piled one over the other. Know thou, O thou enemy of 
 God, that the true news is with us and not with you, and that the 
 news which has reached us contains nothing to cheer thy eye 
 or uphold thy power ; on the contrary, there is no escape for 
 thee from death at our hands, and from death by lack of food. 
 But it is no wonder that you deny the Mahdiship, for you did 
 not believe in the Apostleship of Mahomed ; but the wonder 
 is that the learned men of wickedness, who are raised to 
 prominent positions by you, and whom God has left to go 
 astray, and whose hearts He has closed, whose ears He has 
 sealed, and over whose eyes He has put a veil, since they have 
 been satisfied with you as a leader, and have taken you as a 
 teacher, and have waged war against Believers, and seek vic- 
 tory to those who believe iu more than one God, as though 
 they had not heard the word of God. " If you wage war, 
 war will come upon you, and if you end war it is better for 
 you, and if you return He will return, and God is with the 
 Believers." Do you not know, O you wicked learned men, 
 that he who secedes from the Commonwealth has slipped 
 away from the Faith, just as a hair is drawn out from the lump 
 of dough ? If you, by reason of your love of office and by 
 reason of your association with darkness, are in doubt as to 
 this Imkn, are you also in doubt as to the Apostleship of Ma- 
 hommed, on whom be peace and blessings, that you followed 
 his enemies the evil unbelievers, and have made your rulers in
 
 APPENDICES. 477 
 
 preference to the sons of Islam, and desire them to be victori- 
 ous ? Have you not heard the word of God which says, "O 
 ye who have believed, take not my enemy and your enemy to 
 be rixlers, nor bestow on them your affection, and I know 
 what you have hidden and what you have made known ; and 
 he among you who does this has strayed away to the wrong 
 path." God also says, " O ye who have believed, do not take 
 your fathers and your brothers to be your chiefs, if they prefer 
 unbelief to faith." God also says, " You will not find a people 
 who believes in God and in the Last Day that will befriend 
 those who stray from God and the Prophet, even though they 
 be their fathers, brothers, or relations." But you, you have 
 taken the Christians to be your rulers, when you have no doubt 
 as to their heathenism. Look therefore to yourselves after 
 these quotations ; do you consider it to be counted of the 
 company of Believers ? {sic.) It is strange how you frighten 
 the people, saying the English are coming, and how you think 
 that the Allies will be affected by your false rumours. No, 
 by God ! even though swarms of English and others should 
 come, this would only increase the faith of the Allies, and 
 their steadfastness would grow in the labour of the siege until 
 God shall make you taste confusion and destruction. Take 
 warning by those who are like you, if you are children of in- 
 telligence. Before you the people of Obeid were longing for 
 reinforcements like the longing of the thirsty for water ; and 
 they too were Avriting deceitful and cheering letters, more 
 than you have done ; and, nevertheless, you have heard what 
 befell them. 
 
 If you are content to remain as you are, then prepare for 
 what shall come : but if you knock at the door of repentance, 
 peradventure it may be opened unto you. 
 
 Peace be upon those who follow after the right way. 
 
 (Signed) Abdullah Mahommed. 
 
 19 S. 1302. 
 
 7th or 8th December, 1884. 
 
 APPENDIX CD. 
 
 Telegraphic Petition from the Ulenia and officials of Kaktoum to the 
 Khedive. 
 
 We make bold to present our humble thanks to our Sov- 
 ereign the Khedive. The enemy drew near to Kartoum and 
 besieged it, and our lives were in our throats, and we had no 
 more patience, and words cannot describe our miserable condi- 
 tion. Then the Governor-Generalship was conferred upon 
 H. E. Gordon Pasha, and on his arrival he bestowed all kinds
 
 478 GENERAL GORDON'S JOURNALS. 
 
 of favours, and conceded all that had been demanded, and 
 took all precautions, and brought order out of chaos. And 
 although Kartoum was attacked on all four sides by musketry 
 and cannon, the Governor-General watched day and night ; 
 and when the Nile rose he sent out the victorious soldiers who 
 were victorious over the enemy, and we hope the victory will 
 be soon complete. Kartoum is fortified like an impregnable 
 rock. 
 
 We pray God to give long life to H. H. the Khedive, and to 
 remove our present disturbances. 
 
 Copy of the Khedive's Trade pent in cypher to all the Ulemas and 
 Teachers, and to the Cadi and all mililaiy officers and civil officials in 
 Kaktoum, dated September 21st, 1884. 
 
 Your telegram, dated 27th Shamal, 1301, (19th Augtist, 
 1884), was received on the first day of Dhee-1-Hijjah, 1301, 
 (September 20th, 1884). We regret the condition you are iu 
 by reason of the impossibility of sending you reinforcements 
 and help up till now, on account of circumstances. But we are 
 very glad because you are still safe, and the city is kept by 
 your energ}^ and bravery. If God will, reinforcements will 
 soon reach you, and you shall be tewarded. We hope you will 
 exercise all diligence in upholding the honour of Government. 
 The difficulties are being overcome and the time of relief is at 
 hand by the Grace of God. 
 
 APPENDIX EF. 
 Organisation of the Soudan. 
 
 1. His Excellency, El Zubair Pasha, shall be the Governor 
 (or Ruler) of the Soudan ; he shall have the rank of Fareek 
 and the Osmaniah decoration. His pay shall be £6,000 per 
 annum, i. e. £500 per month. 
 
 2. He shall be free to appoint and discharge the Mudirs and 
 Wakeels, and all other officials and employes of his own mo- 
 tion, and make regulations for the em2)loyes necessary for 
 the administrative and military work in every region in each* 
 mudirieh and in the central town, and for the finances and 
 arsenal, etc. ; and also regulations fixing the taxes and all the 
 revenues and expenses needed yearly. 
 
 3. He is permitted to give military and civil grades up to 
 the grade of Mir-Alai, and shall refer to the Khedive's cabinet 
 in Cairo asking for the brevets (or commissions), but above 
 that grade he must refer to the Khedive of Egypt. 
 
 4. The boundaries of the Soudan on the north shall be at 
 Handak, one of the Dongola regions, and the Soudan regions 
 shall be by Mudirieh as follows : Dongola ; whose boundary
 
 APPENDICES. 479 
 
 shall bs Handak as aforepaid : and Berber and Kartoimi ; the 
 extreme boundary of which sh.all be Donaim and Sennaar up 
 to Faiz-Aghlon, Godaree^D, Gallabat, Ka^^sala and Suakin. As 
 for Massowa and Senheit, they shall not belong to the Soudan 
 Government. The regions of Fashoda, the Equator and Bahr- 
 Gazelle, shall be left (or abandoned) and the employes with- 
 drawn from them. 
 
 5. The Egyptian Government now pays towards the Soudan 
 expenses, £250,000 ; it shall further send a like sum for ty/o 
 more years. 
 
 6. The customs duties taken upon goods coming up and go- 
 ing down by way of Suakin shall be the same as before, and 
 shall enter into the Soudan revenues. Also, goods coming to 
 Suakin while passing Suez shall be paid at Suakin ; but goods 
 going from or coming to the Soudan by Handak, the boundary 
 of the Soudan, shall pay no duty and shall remain as formerly. 
 
 7. All warlike stores and all ammunition and arsenal stores, 
 and baggage of soldiers that shall be needed, shall be asked 
 for from the Egyptian Government, and shall be sent to the 
 Soudan. The value of the same shall not be included in the 
 sum of money fixed to be supplied by Egypt to the Soudan. 
 
 8. The military stores and soldiers' baggage, and apparatus 
 for boats and steamers now in the Soudan, shall remain in it. 
 
 9. The boats and steamers which are in the Soudan and 
 which are brought up with the English shall be left for the 
 use of the Soudan. 
 
 10. Stations for steamers must be erected from Handak to 
 Kartoum ; each station shall have a fort and earthworks and 
 that which is necessary for transport ; but the stations from 
 Handak northwards shall belong to the Egyptian Government. 
 
 11. The British troojas must help in carrying on the war 
 until the central town is passed and the siege raised from Kar- 
 toum and Sennaar ; after which, under direction of the Ruler of 
 the Soudan, that shall be done which will quell the disturbance. 
 
 12. His Excellency El Zubaii' Pasha shall undertake to cap- 
 ture Mohammed Achmed, the would-be Mahdi, and bring the 
 captives that are with him, both Euroi^eans and others, for the 
 execution of which His said Excellency shall receive £30,000. 
 
 13. Trade in slaves shall be stopped, and the lines to be fol- 
 lowed herein shall be the Convention of 4877 between Eng- 
 land and Egypt. 
 
 14. The monopoly and contract of roads in the Soudan and 
 the Atmoor (desert) shall be wholly denied to Hussein-Khalifa, 
 his family and relations. 
 
 15. The Soudan Government must pay the losses sustained 
 by the family of Seyd Mahomet Osman during the disturb-
 
 d 
 
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 ftps ^ '"jp 
 DATE DUE 
 
 
 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 PRINTED IN U S A 1 
 
 
 

 
 DT108.3 G67 1885b 
 
 Gordon, Charles George, 1 8 JJ 
 
 , -1885. 
 
 Ilhe journals ©f Major-Gen. 
 C. G. Gordon, C. B. , at 
 
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