5? "^Anvuan-^ "^(^Auvaaii-^ "^/iiaoKysm^ "^AaaAi o A >r— * c &Aavaan-^^ ^* ^ ;i^OFCAII FO/?;^^ ^^^WEDNIVERy/^ ^OAavaan-^^ ^S«ioo- CHAPTER I. PAGE Gordon's Birth, Parentage, and Early Work . i-8 CHAPTER n. Assistant Commissioner, and First Visit to China 9-16 CHAPTER III. Hung-Tsue-Schuen 17-23 CHAPTER IV. The Ever-Victorious Army 24-35 CHAPTER V. Successes and Trials 36-43 CHAPTER VI. The Rebel Burgevine 44-51 CHAPTER VII. In the Thick of the Fight 52-61 IV CONTENTS. CHAPTER VIII. PAGE After the Surrender of Soochow . ' . . 62-73 CHAPTER IX. Gordon again takes the Field .... 74-81 CHAPTER- X. The Disbanding of the Ever- Victorious Army . 82-95 CHAPTER XI. The Collapse of the Rebellion .... 96-110 CHAPTER XII. At Gravesend 111-126 CHAPTER XIII. Gordon's First Visit to the Soudan . . . 127-136 CHAPTER XIV. What is the Soudan ? i37-H7 CHAPTER XV. Gordon's Predecessor in the Soudan . . 148-15? CONTENTS. V CHAPTER XVI. PAGE The Slave Trade in the Soudan . . . 158-174 CHAPTER XVII. Hurriyat (Liberty) 175-184 CHAPTER XVIII. Near King Mtesa's Land 185-194 CHAPTER XIX. In Abyssinia 195-202 CHAPTER XX. The Level Balance 203-212 CHAPTER XXI. Romulus Gessi 213-223 CHAPTER XXII. King Johannis of Abyssinia 224-230 CHAPTER XXIII. Rest or Work? 231-241 yi CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXIV. PAGE Troubles in the Soudan ...... 242-258 CHAPTER XXV. Gordon's Response 259-280 CHAPTER XXVI. Subsequent Events in the Soudan . . . 281-292 CHAPTER XXVII. Slavery and Gordon's Proclamation . . . 293-312 CHAPTER XXVIII. The Year in Khartoum 313-330 CHAPTER XXIX. The Relief Expedition 331-345 CHAPTER XXX. The End of the Story 346-365 CHAPTER XXXI. A Christian Hero 366-374 Facsimile Letter 375 General Gordon. -oojaetjo-o- CHAPTER I. Gordon's birth, parentage, and early work. " For myself, son, I purpose not to wait on fortune, till These wars determine." — Coriolanus. WOOLWICH and War, if not synonymous names, are very closely connected ; and it was, therefore, in harmony with their lives and characters that in Woolwich Lieutenant-General Henry William Gordon, of the Royal Regiment of Artillery, lived, and in Woolwich his youngest son, Charles George Gordon, was born. The military town on the Thames is not much talked of in times of peace : but no sooner do clouds appear on the political horizon, telling of disquietude which it behoves England to notice, than all eyes and thoughts are turned toward the scene, which, always busy, becomes alive with animation and importance then. Yet Woolwich is an interesting place to visit at any time. It is only nine miles from St. Paul's, and may be reached by three or four different railways, by trams, or omnibuses, or steamboats ; and, when reached, presents features of attrac- tiveness that can be found nowhere else. The Royal Arsenal, which includes the gun factories, carriage depart- 2 GENERAL GORDON. ment, royal laboratory, and military stores departmenl:, is the largest depot for army stores in the world. Within the arsenal is the ordnance yard, where an immense number of pieces of ordnance, and of shot and shells, with fittings and harness for a multitude of artillery horses, are kept in con- stant readiness for use. The public are admitted with little difficulty ; and no one can look on the Rotunda, with its models of Her Majesty's dockyards, the principal fortifica- tions in the world, and various kinds of arms, ancient and modem, without intense interest. The Pontoon Ground is also interesting ; for there, on large sheets of water, experi- ments are made with boats and ordnance. On the east side, facing the Military Train barracks, is the Royal Artillery In- stitution. It includes a museum, theatre, laborator}', and reading-room, for the use of the Royal Artillery officers. There is a small observatory adjoining. South-east of. the Repository Grounds is the Royal Military Academy, founded in 1 719, for the education of cadets intended for the artillery and engineers ; and between the arsenal and the dockyard are the Royal and Marine Barracks, with the Naval and Marine Hospital, which last was erected in 1859. The Royal Dock- yard, the most ancient in the kingdom, occupies a narrow strip of land along the south bank of the Thames, and is very extensive. The outer and inner basins are both of enormous dimensions. Graving docks have also been added, which can contain the largest ships in the Royal Navy. This dock- yard is under the charge of a Commodore-Superintendent, and is surrounded by lines of circumvallations, under the Fortifications Act. A practice range of several miles in extent lies between Woolwich and Hythe, and the artillery also prac- tice on the Plumstead Marshes. Here, too, the Government ordnance are proved. There is a large place called the Camp, for the servants of the Military Train, and an extensive hospital. BIRTH, PARENTAGE, AND EARLY WORK. 3 At Woolwich the man who has since become known as "Chinese Gordon," the leader of the '"Ever Victorious Arrny," and the " Good Pasha," was bom on the 28th of January, 1833. His mother was Elizabeth Enderby of Blacklieath, whose father, a London merchant, achieved some notoriety by his success in the whale fishery ; by which means he did much to open up the Southern Hemis- phere, and to demonstrate the possibility of rounding Cape Horn. The Enderby whalers did good service to Australia and New Zealand, which were at that time little known ; and the Enderbys were among the first discoverers of the Auckland Islands. They were, indeed, the means of pro- moting commerce between our own country and some of our most important colonies ; and there is a strip of country in the Antarctic Ocean known by the name of " Enderby's Lands." Miss Enderby, afterwards Mrs. Gordon, the mother of our hero, was in many respects a remarkable woman, well fitted to guide her children into paths of true nobility and honor. She was exceedingly tender and amiable, bright and hopeful. She lived for others rather than for herself, and proved her ability to rule her children by her perfect mastery of self. She had five sons and six daughters. Sir Henry W. Gordon, K.C.B., is the only son now living. Their father, the late Lieutenant- General Gordon, had an ancestry of soldiers. His grandfather — the great-grand- father of our hero — had a very eventful life. He was taken prisoner at Prestonpans, but the Duke of Cumberland used his influence to secure his release. He died at HaHfax in North America, in 1752. His son, the grand- father of Charles, fought in several battles, and won some distinction. Henry William, the father of General Gordon, was a soldier of the highest type, honorable, kindly, just, and devoted to his profession. 4 GENERAL GORDON. Charles was a boy of quick but generous temper, with plenty of energy, but not very great physical strength. He was sent to school at Taunton, in Somerset ; and afterwards attended the Royal Mihtary Academy at Woolwich. A story is told of an occurrence during his cadetship which illustrates the fire and energy of his youthful spirit. " You are incompetent : you will never make an officer," said his superior, in rebuke to him one day \ and, with flashing eyes and flushed cheeks, the lad tore from his shoulders the epaulettes that he wore and cast them down before his reprover's feet. He was only nineteen years old when he became an officer of Engineers, and received his commission of second Lieutenant. He was ordered to Pembroke, where plans were required for the forts at Milford Haven ; and there he worked for a few months, until, in the winter of 1854, news came that he was to go to Corfu. This was not at all according to his wish. At this time all thoughts were centered on the Crimea, and thither the ambitious hopes of Charles Gordon turned. He had spent part of his boyhood at Corfu, where his father had commanded the artillery, and would very much prefer to serve in the Crimea than in the Ionian Islands. By some means his route became changed. The young soldier, eager for active service, volunteered to go where men were greatly needed; and in December, 1854, he started for the East, reaching Balaklava on New Year's Day, 1855. For a few weeks he was comparatively idle, and he spent the time in making observations, and learning lessons for future use. Every one knows long ago the story of the privations and heroisms of the English army before Sebastopol. It has been told again and again by the correspondents of newspapers, and by trusty and eloquent BIRTH, PARENTAGE, AND EARLY WORK. 5 historians ; but no pictures were more vivid than those of the young subaltern, who was laying to heart all that he saw. His letters home told the same story which the war correspondents told, of lack of supplies, of food wasting where it was not needed, while men were dying for want of it ; of officers and men engaged in foraging expeditions ; of the intense cold, which killed Englishmen more surely than Russian guns ; of the ravages of cholera ; of delays on the part of the officers, and despondency on the part of the men. It is true that at the time when Gordon had joined, things were better than they had been, but they were bad still. In February some definite work was given to Gordon to do. The first order he received was to contrive to make rifle-pits between the French and English sentries, who were in front of the trenches, and so unite them. It was hazardous work ; and the men and sentiies under his command grew frightened, and deserted him. He was shot at by both English and Russian sentries. But he continued at the work of making batteries in the advance trenches for two months ; and although the throw- ing up of these batteries was a very monotonous occupa- tion, it happened now and then that some excitement was caused by an attack upon the workers, who returned the fire. On one of these occasions a bullet was fired at Gordon, from one of the Russian rifle-pits, which only missed his head by an inch. He told his friends at home about the narrow escape he had experienced, and added that the Russians were good marksmen, and used a bullet that was large and pointed. At last, however, there was some fighting. Charles 6 GENERAL GORDON. Gordon still took part in the work in the trenches, and was thus brought into all the active Ufe of the time ; but although on one occasion he was struck by a stone he escaped uninjured. The war, meanwhile, dragged on somewhat wearily. Justin McCarthy said, "Sometimes it was not easy to say which ought to be called the besieged, — the Russians in Sebastopol, or the Allies encamped in sight of it." There were grumblers at home, whose bitter criticisms reached the seat of war, where there were then difficulties which only those who were present could under- stand. Gordon was noting everything, and laying up stores of knowledge for future use. In the midst of it all Lord Raglan died. His death was, no doubt, the result of anxiety and trouble. On the i8th of June the Allies were repulsed with heavy loss. General Pelissier urged Lord Raglan to consent to the making of a simultaneous attack on the Malakoff and the Redan, and his lordship yielded against his better judgment. The (allure of the attempt filled him with grief and dismay. Our Prince Consort wrote in reference to this, " the eighteenth was the nail in his coffin, for he knew that his troops could do nothing under the circumstances which Pelissier had created, and to give them the order to attack was to send them to certain death ; and yet had he not done so, the French army would have believed he was deserting them in the hour of need. The choice must have been infinitely hard for him ; and yet the French insinuate, and what is worse, the Times does so, too, that Lord Raglan is alone to blame." The disappointment and regret, the anxiety and the trouble, were too much for the English commander, who, in cir- cumstances of great difficulty, had sought to prove himself a worthy successor of Nelson, and " do his duty " ; and he died on the 29th of June. BIRTH, PARENTAGE, AND EARLY WORK. 7 The unsuccessful attack of the Allies, which plunged England into sorrow, and killed Lord Raglan, brought great rejoicing to the Russians. Prince Gortschakoff declared that " the hour was approaching when the pride of the enemy would be lowered, and their armies swept from Russian soil like chaff blown away by the wind." But, as all the world knows, that was far from being the case. Both the EngUsh and the French were brave and courageous. Our men, Gordon among them, worked for long hours in the trenches or the field. Miss Florence Nightingale gave, in a letter she wrote at the time, the following account of their hardships, upon which she dwelt with much more commiseration than the men felt for themselves : — " Fancy working five nights out of seven in the trenches. Fancy being thirty-six hours in them at a stretch, as they sometimes were, lying dowai, or half-lying dowai : often forty-eight hours with no food but raw salt pork, sprinkled with sugar, rum, and biscuit ; nothing hot, because the exhausted soldier could not collect his own fuel, as he was expected to do, to cook his own rations ; and fancy through all this, the army preserving their courage and patience as they have done, and being now eager (the old ones as well as the young ones) to be led into the trenches. There was something sublime in the spectacle." Such was the training of a hero among heroes ; a trailing that must have been good for all who had sufficient strength of endurance for the trial, and which certainly had an excellent effect on the young subaltern, who was quietly obeying orders, and at the same time realizing the whole situation. He was not present at the taking of the Malakoff tower ; but he is said to have been at work in the trenches at the very time when Sebastopol was evacuated. During the 8 GENERAL GORDON. night of the 8th of September the Russians withdrew from the south side of the city. A bridge of boats had been made to cross the bay from the north to the south, and over this bridge Prince Gortschakoff, seeing his case to be hopeless — his defences having been almost destroyed by the persistent attacks of the Alhes — quietly took his troops. He felt that to try to hold the city longer was only to cause a more terrible death-roll among his men : and so he decided, before things grew worse, to leave Sebastopol. But the Allies saw an awful sight on the morning of the 9th of September. The whole city was in flames, and completely ruined. Gortschakoff said in his despatch, " It is not Sebastopol which we have left to them, but the burning ruins of the town, which we ourselves set fire to, having maintained the honor of the defence in such a manner that our great-grandchildren may recall with pride the remembrance of it, and send it on to all posterity." Sebastopol will never again be what it was before. French and English engineers were ordered to destroy such of the forts as were standing, and Gordon was told off to assist in the work of destruction. The war in the Crimea soon aftenvards ceased, and the young subaltern of the Royal Engineers received the Order of the Legion of Honor from the French Ciovernment. And so Charles Gordon got his first, discipline and his first honors. CHAPTER II. ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER, AND FIRST VISIT TO CHINA. " These flags of France, that are advanced here Before the eye and prospect of your town, Have hither marched to your endamagement. Their cannons have their bowels full of wrath; And ready mounted are they to spit forth Their iron indignation 'gainst your walls." — King John. ABLE workers are never allowed to remain idle long, and no sooner had Charles Gordon finished his work in the Crimea than he was dispatched on other business. In May, 1856, he was ordered to join Major Stanton (now Lieutenant- General Sir E. Stanton) at Bessarabia, a province in the south-west of Russia. New frontiers of Russia, Tur- key, and Roumania had to be laid down, and Gordon was appointed Assistant Commissioner. Representatives of France, Russia, and Austria were also on the Commission. Eleven months were occupied by the expedition. Gordon's special duty was, in company with another, to trace a boundary that extended for a hundred miles, and compare the English and Russian maps in order to see if they agreed. The change from the monotonous and exhausting work in the Russian trenches, to leisurely travelling from place to 10 GENERAL GORDON. place through beautiful summer weather, was a very agree- able one. When the days were too hot they took their journeys by night, and Gordon felt great interest in his work and the places that he visited. The Commissioners resided at Kichenev, but besides this town Gordon became acquainted with Akerman, Bolgrad, Kotimore, Reni, Seratzika, and Jassy. He saw the district at its best. It is flat but fertile. Bessarabia has a very mixed population, composed of Rus- sians, Poles, Wallachians, Moldavians, Bulgarians, Greeks, Armenians, Jews, Germans, and Tartars, besides a few gipsies. The Dniester, the Pruth, and the Danube are its rivers. It has some beautiful streams, and some salt lakes. The country is traversed by offshoots from the Transylvanian branch of the Carpathian mountains, and the hills are mostly covered with wood. The chief part of the land is in pas- turage. 1. The work that Charles Gordon did in Bessarabia was not monotonous, but he grew a little tired of it ; and when, in April, 1857, he found that he was ordered to join the Com- mission for arranging the boundary in Asia, he sent home to ask if he might exchange with someone else. But he was not allowed to do so, and therefore went as he was com- manded to Armenia. He was to become a great traveller, and his mind must have been considerably enlarged and strengthened, even as early as the time of which we are writing, by his knowledge of foreign countries, and his inter- course with the men of all nations. Erivan, situated to the north of Ararat, with its fortress and mosques, its stone bridge, and its aqueducts, was visited by him. So was Erze- roum, the busy, prosperous town near the northern source of the Euphrates ; and also Kars, which three years before had held out so bravely during the siege of the Russians, which lasted from the i6th of June, 1855, to the beginning of De- FIRST VISIT TO CHINA. 11 cember. Gordon's labors were diversified by some mountain climbing, for he ascended both Little and Great Ararat. He took observations, and stored knowledge of places and men wherever he went. Mr. Hake, in his Story of Chinese Gordon, says of him at this period, that " he found time to study the strategic points of a country illustrious and inter- esting as the scene of many battles." After spending six months in Armenia, he went to Con- stantinople, in order to attend a conference of the Com- mission ; and then, after being absent from home three years, he had six months' holiday, and came to England to spend it with his friends. At the end of his furlough, he was sent back to Armenia, not as assistant now, but as commissioner, where he stayed until the end of "the year 1858; after which he again came home. The year 1859 was spent at Chatham, where he was engaged as Field-work Instructor and Adjutant. In the meantime serious circumstances were occurring which were to call Charles Gordon to quite another part of the world. The Queen's speech at the opening of Parliament on the 24th January, i860, mentioned the renewal of disturbances in China, and stated that the English and French plenipo- tentiaries had proceeded to the mouth of the Peiho river in order to repair to Pekin, and exchange in that city the ratifications of the Treaty of Tien-tsin. The plenipoten- tiaries were stopped, and compelled to retire, and the Royal Speech declared that an expedition had been forthwith despatched to obtain redress. The Chinese government refused to make any apology for attacking the British ships, and there was a great outcry raised in England. The military expedition proceeded immediately to China, Lord F^lgin and Baron Gros being at 12 GENERAL GORDON. the head of it, while the command of the EngUsh land forces was given to Sir Hope Grant, and General Cousin de Montauban, afterwards Count Palikao, commanded the French. Charles Gordon was ordered to join the army — and he started some time in July. He travelled via Paris and Marseilles, and visited the towns of Malta, Alexandria, Aden, Ceylon, Singapore, and Hong-kong. From thence he went to Shanghai, and, only halting there for a day, went on to Tien-tsin. He had been travelling sixty-eight days. The Allies had already occupied that city — having cap- tured the Taku forts — and had marched on Pekin. But the Chinese had endeavored to stop their progress to the capital by asking Lord Elgin to enter into negotiations for peace, and it was arranged that the Chinese Commissioners should meet the European plenipotentiaries at Tung-chow, a walled town ten miles from Pekin. Mr. Parks and Mr. Loch, Lord Elgin's secretaries, Mr. Bowlby, the Times cor- respondent, and several French and English officers, among whom was De Norman, a friend and colleague of Charles Gordon, went to Tung-chow to make the necessary arrange- ments for the interview between the envoys and the Chinese Commissioners. As they were returning, some quarrel took place between a French commissariat officer and some Tartar soldiers, and there was a fight. Mr. Parks, Mr. Loch, and others, twenty-six British subjects and twelve French in all, were at once seized by the Chinese General, Sang-ho-lin-sin, and sent off to various prisons. This was a great outrage, committed on men who bore a flag of truce, and had come at the request of the Chinese them- selves to arrange a conference with a view to peace. The Allies resolved to punish this outrage ; and they marched on Pekin in October and invested the city, Lord FIRST VISIT TO CHINA. 13 Elgin refusing to negotiate until the prisoners had been returned. The guns of the Allies were in position to blow in the gate of the city, when the Chinese acceded to their terms, and surrendered the gate. The Allies entered the city, and hoisted the English and French flags on the walls. But then Lord Elgin learned that the captives had been treated with the greatest cruelty and indignity. So horrible indeed had been their sufferings, that thirteen out of the twenty-six British subjects had died in great agony. Among these was De Norman, who had served with Gordon in Asia. The thirteen who were released bore evidence of the abom- inable treatment to which they had been subjected. The hearts of the Allied officers and men were stirred to indignation by the perfidy and cruelty of the Chinese author- ities, upon whom Lord Elgin determined to inflict an exem- plary and signal punishment. He ordered that the Chinese Summer Palace should be burnt down, that the rulers of the nation might understand the danger of treachery and foul play. " What remains of the Palace," said Lord Elgin, " which appears to be the place at which several of the British cap- tives were subjected to the grossest indignities, will be imme- diately levelled to the ground : this condition requires no assent on the part of His Highness Prince Kung" (the brother and plenipotentiary of the Emperor), "because it will be at once carried into effect by the Commander-in- Chief." And so it was. In two days the Palace was completely destroyed. The author of Our Oivft Times thus writes of this Sum- mer Palace : — "It covered an area of many miles. The palace of Adrian, at Tivoli, might have been hidden in one of its courts. Gardens, temples, small lodges and pagodas, 14 GENERAL GORDON. groves, grottoes, lakes, bridges, terraces, artificial hills, diver- sified the vast space. All the artistic treasures, all the curi- osities — archaeological and other — that Chinese wealth and Chinese taste, such as it was, could bring together, had been accumulated in this magnificent pleasaunce. The surround- ing scenery was beautiful. The high mountains of Tartary ramparted one side of the enclosure." Charles Gordon was ordered, with the rest, to assist in destroying this Palace ; and, as usual, he gave in his next home letter an account of the work of devastation : — " We accordingly went out, and after pillaging it, burned the whole place, destroying, in a vandal-like manner, most valuable property, which could not be replaced for four millions. . . . You would scarcely imagine the beauty and magnificence of the places we burnt. It made one's heart sore to burn them ; in fact, these palaces were so large, and we were so pressed for time, that we could not plunder them carefully. Quan- tities of gold ornaments were burned, considered as brass. It was wretchedly demoralizing work for an army. Every- body was wild for plunder." The affair went to the hearts of a good many more people besides that of Charles, now Caj^tain Gordon ; and Lord Elgin was considerably blamed for what seemed an act of unpardonable vandalism. It transpired, however, that the French had remorselessly looted and wrecked the Palace before Lord Elgin had given his order — an order which he maintained was a just one, since war would become ten times more horrible than it is already, if it were not one of its es- sential conditions that the messengers engaged in the prelim- inaries of peace are to be held sacred from harm. The Allied armies remained before Pekin until the 8th November, when they left to take up their winter quarters at Ticn-tsin, whither Gordon went with his regiment as com- FII^ST VISIT TO CHINA. 15 manding Royal Engineer. He had received for his services his brevet promotion to the rank of major. He stayed at Tien-tsin until the spring of 1S62. In December, 1861, he and Lieutenant Garden went together on horseback to explore the outer wall of China, at Kalgan. This world-famous structure, " Wan-li-chang " (myriad-mile- wall), was built as a protection against the Tartar tribes by the first Emperor of the Tsin dynasty, about 220 B.C. It traverses the northern boundary of China, and is carried over the highest hills, through the deepest valleys, across rivers and every other obstacle. M'CuUoch believes its length to be 1250 miles. The total height of the wall, including a parapet of five feet, is twenty feet ; it is twenty- five feet thick at the base, and fifteen at the top. Gordon and Garden were exceedingly interested in their journey, which was not only eventful to them but important to others, for they went to several places that no European had visited before. They had some difficulties, as might be expected. In one place the axle-trees of their carts would not fit the ruts : in another their carts were stolen from them. The cold was so great that raw eggs were frozen as hard as if they had been boiled. In one of his letters Major Gordon describes a dust-storm in which he was caught : — " The sky was as dark as night ; huge columns of dust came sweeping down, and it blew a regular hurricane, the blue sky appearing now and then through the breaks. The quantity of dust was indescribable. A canal, about fifty miles long and eighteen feet wide, and seven feet deep, was completely filled up ; and boats which had been floating merrily down the Tien-tsin found themselves at the end of the storm on a bank of sand, the canal being filled up, and the waters absorbed. They will have to be carried to the Peiho, and have already commenced 16 GENERAL GORDON. to move. The canal was ever)^»vhere impassable, and will have to be re-excavated." In May, 1862, Major Gordon had his attention called to the Tai-ping rebellion, in connection with which he was to do some of the most remarkable and heroic deeds of his life, and so win the name by which he will be for ever known — the name of " Chinese Gordon." He was at this time a young man, but he had been unconsciously preparing for future work. He was getting his lessons in the highest school, for he was a disciple of Christ, and was learning of Him. Moreover, from his boyhood upward, he seems to have chosen the motto, " Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might." He was in himself the illustration of the words of the great " Bard of Avon ": — " Firm of word ; Speaking of deeds, and deedless in his tongue; Not soon provoked, nor, being provoked, soon calmed; His heart and hand both open and both free." CHAPTER III. HUNG-TSUE-SCHUEN. " We cannot all be masters, nor all masters cannot be truly followed." — Othello. THE Tai-ping rebellion was the work of a schoolmaster who announced himself as the " Heavenly King," the " Emperor of the Great Peace." He said that he had seen God, who had called him the Second Celestial Brother. He got a large following without much difficulty, especially as his clansmen numbered 20,000. He made* the announcement that to him was given the power to execute judgment and to deliver the oppressed ; and declared that his great mission was to exterminate the Manchoo race. He soon came into collision with the Mandarins ; and thinking that some of his people were ill-used, and becoming angry at his own failure to pass certain examinations which would admit him to the circle of the literati, he took his converts with him, and went forth to increase their number. When his followers were some hundreds of thousands, he chose five warrior kings — Wangs — from among his kinsmen ; and, having his army augmented by bands of robbers and secret societies, and four thousand warriors brought by some desperate wo- men, he led this immense mob from city to city, from pro- 18 GENERAL GORDON. vince to province, making raids upon rice-harvests and leaving devastation and ruin wlierever they went. The Chinese were frightened at the sight of the gaudy flags and colored finery in which Hung and his followers were dressed, and they shrank with terror from the knives and cutlasses which the fierce barbarians used. Hung marched his host to Nanking, to reach which he had to traverse a distance of seven hundred miles. The city fell before hiin, and he at once took possession of it, and gave it the name of the Capital of the Heavenly King. They put the entire population to the sword, and laid waste the city, spoiling, among other things, the renowned Porcelain Tower, which the Emperor Yungloh erected in memory of his mother in 1414-26. Dr. MacGowan, in his description of this tower, says that it was built nine storeys high, and the bricks and tiles were to be glazed and of fine colors ; and the whole structure was to be of the most superior kind, in order that the virtues of the Emperor's mother might be widely known. There was to be a brass ball, overlaid with gold, on the top of the spire. It was to have one hundred and forty-four bells, and one hundred and forty lanterns, whose light was to illumine the " thirty-three heavens, shining into the hearts of all men, good and bad, eternally removing human misery." A brazen bowl on the top of the highest roof was to contain " one white shining pearl, one fire- averting pearl, one wind-averting pearl, one water-averting pearl, one dust-averting pearl, a lump of gold weighing sixty ounces, a box of tea leaves, 1000 taels of silver, one lump of orpiment weighing 4000 pounds, one precious stone-gem, 1000 strings of copper coins, two pieces of yellow satin, and four copies of Buddhist classics." The tower was called " Pan-gan-sy," i.e., " Recompensing Favor Pagoda." Under this tower Hung-Tsue-Schuen set up his royal state HUNG-TSUE-SCHUEN. 19 and marshalled his army. He gave to the Wangs, or under kings whom he had appointed, such titles as " Cock Eye," "the Yellow Tiger," " the One-Eyed Dog." He developed into a very tyrannous master, beheading any of his chiefs who displeased him, and kicking to death his discarded wives and concubines. Like the Mahdi in the Soudan, he declared his mission to be altogether a religious one, and he himself a Messiah. He was, he said, and his followers believed him, " the Emperor of the Great Peace." There was plenty of worship, of a certain kind, carried on side by side with war. The Rev. J. L. Holmes, a missionary, visited Nanking, and learned many particulars about their religious beliefs and ceremonies, afterwards publishing the following, among other interesting information : — "At night we witnessed their worship. It occurred at the beginning of their Sabbath, midnight of Friday. The place of worship was Chung Wang's private audience-room. He was himself seated in the midst of his attendants — no females were present. They first sang, or rather chanted, after which a written prayer was read, and burned by an officer, upon which they rose and sang again, and then sep- arated. The Chung Wang sent for me again before he left his seat, and asked me if I understood their mode of wor- ship. I replied that I had just seen it for the first time. He asked what our mode was. I replied that we endeav- ored to follow the rules laid down in the Scriptures, and thought all departure therefrom to be erroneous. He then proceeded to explain the ground upon which they departed from this rule. The Tien ^Vang had been to heaven, he said, and had seen the Heavenly Father. Our revelation had been handed down for one thousand eight hundred years. They had received a new additional revelation ; and 20 GENERAL GORDON. upon this they could adopt a different mode of worship. I replied, that if the Tien Wang had obtained a revelation, we could determine its genuineness by comparing it with the Scriptures. If they coincided, they might be parts of the same ; if not, the new revelation could not be true, as God did not change. He suggested that there might be a sort of disparagement which was yet appropriate, as in the Chinese garment, which is buttoned at one side. To this compari- son I objected, as comparing a piece of man's work with God's work. Ours were little and imperfect; His great and glorious. We should compare God's works with each other. The sun did not rise in the east to-day and in the west to-morrow. Winter and summer did not change their respective characters. Neither would the Heavenly Father capriciously make a law at one time and contradict it at another. His Majesty seemed rather disconcerted at thus being carried out of the usual track in which he was in the habit of discoursing ; and we parted, proposing to talk fur- thur upon the subject at another time. " At daylight we started for the Tien Wang's palace. The procession was headed by a number of brilliantly-col- ored banners, after which followed a troop of armed soldiers. Then came Chung Wang, in a large sedan, covered with yel- low satin and embroidery, and borne by eight coolies ; next came the foreigner on horseback, in company with Chung Wang's chief officer, followed by a number of other officers on horseback. On our way several of the other kings who were in the city fell in ahead of us with similar retinues. Music added discord to the scene, and curious gazers lined the streets on either side, who had, no doubt, seen kings before, but probably never witnessed such an apparition as that. . . . Reaching, at length, the palace of Tien Wang, a large building resembling very much the best Confucian HUNG-TSUE-SCHUEN. 21 temples, though of much greater size than these generally are, we entered the outer gate, and proceeded to a large building to the east of the palace proper, and called the Morning Palace. Here we were presented to the Tien Wang and his son, with several others. After resting a little while, during which two of the attendants testified their familiarity with, and consequently irreverence for, the royal place, by concluding a misunderstanding in fisticuffs, we proceeded to the audience-hall of the Tien Wang. I was here presented to the Tien Wang's two brothers, two nephews, and son-in-law. They were seated at the entrance of a deep recess, over which was written, ' Illustrious Heav- enly Door.' At the end of this recess, further in, was pointed out to us His Majesty Tien Wang's seat, which was as yet vacant. The company awaited for some time the arrival of the Western King, whose presence seemed to be necessary before they could proceed with the ceremonies. That dignitary, a boy of twelve or fourteen, directly made his appearance, and entering at the Holy Heavenly Gate, took his place with the royal group. They then proceeded with their ceremonies as follows : — First, they kneeled with their faces to the Tien Wang's seat, and uttered a prayer to the Heavenly Brother; then kneeling, with their faces in the opposite direction, they prayed to the Heavenly Father, after which they again kneeled with their faces to the Tien Wang's seat, and in like manner repeated a prayer to him. They then concluded by singing in a standing position. A roast pig, and the body of a goat were lying, with other articles, on tables in the outer court ; and a fire was kept burning on a stone altar in front of the Tien Wang's seat, in a sort of court intervening between it and the termination of the recess leading to it. He had not yet appeared ; and though all waited for him for some time after the conclusion 22 GENERAL GORDON. of the ceremonies, he did not appear at all. He had proba- bly changed his mind, concluding that it would be a bad precedent to allow a foreigner to see him without first signi- fying submission to him ; or it may be that he did not mean to see me after learning the stubborn nature of our princi- ples, but anxious to have us carry away some account of the grandeur and magnificence of his court, had taken this mode of making an appropriate impression, leaving the imagina- tion to supply the vacant chair which his own ample dimen- sions should have filled. We retired to the Morning Palace again, where kings, princes, foreigners, and all were called upon to ' ply the nimble, lads,' upon a breakfast that had been prepared for us, after which we retired in the order in which we came." Chung Wang saw Mr. Holmes afterwards, privately. He was dressed in a loose white silk garment, with a red handkerchief round his head, and a jewel in front. He sat in an easy-chair, fanned by a pretty shp-shod girl. He asked Mr. Holmes questions about foreign machinery, and especially wished him to explain a map, a musical box, and a spy-glass. He became afterwards quite sociable. Mr. Holmes had liberty to visit him whenever he pleased. But he was not willing to be drawn into a discussion in regard to the doctrines of the New Testament, which conflicted with those of Tien Wang ; he admitted that the two did not agree, but declared that the revelation of Tien Wang was more authoritative. Mr. Holmes, before leaving, entered into conversation with many people, and so got an idea of Hung-Tsue- Schuen's principles and hold upon his adherents, and he concluded that there was very little real religion or elevation of either character or sentiment in them. Strange to say, there was among foreign nations some HUNG- rSUE-SCHUEN. 23 sympathy with Hung and his fanatics. It was thought by a few people that his Christianity was better than none, and that possibly the rebels had some right after all. The relations between England and China were at that time anything but cordial, as might have been expected ; and that we should interfere was at first improbable. The Imperial authorities endeavored to drive the rebels towards the sea ; and when Shanghai was in danger of an attack, the wealthy traders grew so alarmed that they subscribed funds to induce some foreign forces to protect their city. Already Sung-kiang, a place about twenty miles from Shanghai, was occupied by the rebels, and a reward was offered to two American filibusters — Ward and Burgevine — who were trying to enlist men, to induce them to re-capture the town. Some fighting took place, and at first Ward and his men were victorious. The Faithful King, one of the Tai-ping leaders, hearing of this, led a new army against the " foreign devils," as the Americans were called. They drove Ward back into Sung-kiang, and then marched direct on Shanghai, devastating the country as they went. But the allied French and British troops that were in Shanghai decided now to assist the Imperialists in driving back the rebels, and they were repulsed with heavy loss. They made another attempt, with a similar result, the following day. On hearing this, the Heavenly King summoned his follower, the Faithful One, to Nanking, for consultation and instructions. From that city two months later four immense armies, under the command of four great Wangs, set forth on an expedition to drive the Imperialists from all the cities between Nanking and Hanchow — a district of nearly four hundred miles. CHAPTER IV. THE EVER-VICTORIOUS ARUIY. " Let us go thank him and encourage him." — Js You Like It. WHEN the news of the onward march of the rebel forces mentioned in the previous chapter reached the British Naval Commander-in-Chief, Admiral Sir James Hope, he decided to visit those ports on the Yangtze which were menaced and which had been thrown open by the Convention of Pekin to foreign trade. He sailed, therefore, up the river in February, 1861, and succeeded in getting into communication with the Heavenly King. Admiral Hope requested of him that the Yangtze trade should not be interfered with, and the rebel leader promised that the armies of the Great Peace should not molest any of the ports, nor at all interfere with Shanghai for one year. The Heavenly King kept his men to the letter of his promise, and during the year 1861 they engaged themselves in endeavoring to take Hangkow, and make their way into the Yangtze Valley. But they were very unsuccessful, and at last, when the troops were driven back into the neighbor- hood of Shanghai, the Heavenly King informed Admiral Hope that as soon as the year of truce had expired he THE EVER-VICTORIOUS^ARMY. 25 would attack that city. He was warned that it would be not only unwise, but exceedingly dangerous on his part to at all disturb existing arrangements; but in January, 1862, the Faithful King received orders from headquarters to march his forces on Shanghai, in disregard of all warnings. In the meantime Ward had not been idle. He was now at Sung-kiang with a thousand well-drilled Chinese soldiers in his army ; and the allied forces at once resolved to join him in his work of putting down the Tai-ping rebellion. From February to June the Imperialists, the Allies, and the army of the Americans, worked together — Captain Dew, R.N., being appointed to the naval command — and they succeeded at once in driving the Tai-pings out of Ningo-po. In September Ward was killed ; and his companion Burge- vine, who succeeded him, soon proved that he was incompe- tent, and altogether unfit for the post. He struck the mandarin, who was the local treasurer, because he did not at once pay the money which he demanded, and ordered his men to break into the treasury and carry off a large sum. Such conduct could not be tolerated ; and the Chinese authorities at once dismissed him from their service. But now the adventurers who had served under Ward and Burgevine were without a captain ; and Li-Hung-Chang, the great Chinese soldier and statesman, asked General Staveley to select a competent British officer to take command of the Ever- Victorious Army. He promised, under certain condi- tions, to do the best that he could ; and his mind at once turned to Charles Gordon. He knew him ; he had admired his conduct ; and he believed that he possessed very great ability as well as courage. " What he was before Sebastopol he has been since — faithful, trusty, and successful. Before Pekin and at Shanghai he has evinced just the qualities that are needed now. Al- 26 GENERAL GORDON. though he has never been in command, he will rise to this occasion, to which he is m.ore fitted than any other man whom I know." So reasoned General Staveley ; and ended by declaring that Charles Gordon must become the new leader of the Ever- Victorious Army. Gordon was at that time busy in making a military survey of the land around Shanghai ; and he did not wish to relin- quish this important work, even for the other which was so much more responsible and great. He judged rightly that the knowledge he was now gaining would be of use to him hereafter ; and he asked to be allowed for the i)resent to con- tinue at the work. Sir James Hope, therefore, gave the com- mand to Captain Holland of the Marine Light Infantry, who at once besieged the walled city of Taitsan. This attempt had exceedingly disastrous results. Holland had received false information respecting the defences of Taitsan, and believed it to be surrounded by a dry ditch, when in reality a deep moat ran around it. The consequence was that he was defeated, with a loss of three hundred men and four officers, besides the 32-pounders, which had to be abandoned. The Tai-pings were of course greatly rejoiced — and Mr. Hake, in the Story of Chinese Gordon, reproduces an amusing account of the affair written by one of the Wangs. " ' What general is he,' cried our chief, ' who sends his men to storm a city without first ascertaining that there is a moat?' 'And wJiat general is he,' cried another of our leaders, 'who allows a storming-party to advance without bridges ? See, oh chief, these unfortunates ! ' So we laughed and jested as we saw the slaves of the Tartar usurper advancing to destruction. . . . * Arise,' cried our leader, 'oh, inheritors of eternal peace, and drive these imps from the face of our land.' And we arose THE EVER-VICTORIOUS ARMY. 27 at his word as one man — the cry of blood was in our mouths, and the thirst for blood consumed us — we sallied forth on the ever-victorious troops, and, behold, they retired as soon as they saw the brandishing of our spears. Many fled, fling- ing away their arms in their haste ; their ammunition and their belts also they cast upon the ground in their fear. The imp- ish followers of the Mandarins set them the example, and many followed it. Little cared they for bridges in their haste — they scattered themselves over the face of the country, and we pursued them as they fled. There were English officers too. Oh, recorder of events, how they ran ! ' " The precious record concludes thus : — " ' We retired before the face of the foreigners, because we knew their might ; we withdrew beyond the line which they chalked out, and we will not trans- gress beyond it ; but the country we possess will we hold, and scatter to the four winds of heaven any impish fiends who come against us. Let not the Mandarin slaves think that in their service alone are foreigners employed, and that they alone reap the benefit of their warlike experience. Numbers of them have acknowledged the supremacy of our Heavenly King, and joined us in our efforts to make great peace pre- vail. Many were in Taitsan, and a Frenchman pointed the gun which carried death into the ranks of our foes. Oh, re- corder of events, we, too, have disciplined troops — and we, too, have European firearms, as the imps found to their cost. They have essa}'ed our might, and have experienced the strength of our arms. Let them rest in Sung-kiang. They thought they could take Nanking, but they failed in Taitsan.' " It was felt that the Ever- Victorious Army would not keep the name it had chosen for itself if a stronger and greater leader were not at once placed at the head of it ; and after the Taitsan defeat, Gordon gave up his survey work and 2S GENERAL GORDON. took command. It was no easy task that had been given him ; but he beheved that he might be sure of divine guidance. He had become a commander ; but he would take his command from the Great Captain, who is ever on the side of right ; and he was not afraid. Self did not enter into his considerations at all : he wished to be useful, and do his duty successfully, and he cared little for what might lie beyond. His letter, dated 24th March, 1863, shows the spirit in which he undertook the work : — " I am afraid you will be much vexed at my having taken the command of the Sung-kiang force, and that I am now a Mandarin. I have taken the step on consideration. I think that any one who contributes to putting down this rebellion fulfils a humane task, and I also think tends a great deal to open China to civilization. I will not act rashly, and trust to be able soon to return to England ; at the same time I will remember yours and my father's wishes, and endeavor to remain as short a time as possible. I can say that if I had not accepted the command, I believe the force would have been broken up and the rebellion gone on in its misery for years. I trust this will not now be the case, and that I may soon be able to comfort you on this sub- ject. You must not fret on this matter : I think I am doing a good service. ... I keep your likeness before me, and can assure you and my father that I will not be rash, and that as soon as I can conveniently, and with due regard to the object I have in view, I will return home." Gordon soon proved himself not only courageous, but exceedingly original in his plans, and i)rompt in carrying them out. Instead of revenging the defeat at Taitsan, as many persons desired him to do, he determined to go away from the neighborhood, and make war upon some other place held by the rebels. His policy was a bold one. He THE EVER-VICTORIOUS ARMY. 29 would go at once to the very heart of the rebeUion, and by some military masterpiece of stratagem and skill prove to the rebels the kind of opposition with which they had now to deal. He therefore took two steamers and a thousand men, and went away towards Fushan, which lies on the southern bank of the Yangtze estuary. He landed there, although the Tai-pings saw him ; and he went from Fushan to Chanzu, a city ten miles inland, which was loyal to the Imperialists, although besieged by the rebels. Mr. Andrew Wilson, in his interesting book, says the fol- lowing in reference to Chanzu : — " The garrison of Chanzu itself had a curious story to tell. They had all been rebels, but had suddenly transferred the town and their services to the other side. Their chief, Lo-Kuo-Chung, had persuaded them to shave their heads and declare for the Imperialist cause early in the year, and this they did in conjunction with the garrison at Fushan ; but no sooner had they done so, than, to their dismay, the Faithful King came down upon them with a large force, took Fushan, and laid siege to them, trying to overcome them by various kinds of assault and surprise. He brought against them the two 32-pounders which had been recovered after having been taken at Taitsan, and partially breached the wall. He offered any terms to the soldiers if they would come over ; and in order to show his great success, sent in the heads of three European officers who had been killed at Taitsan. Lo, in these trying circum- stances, had been obliged to do a good deal of beheading in order to keep his garrison staunch ; but he, and probably most of his followers, felt they had committed too unpardon- able a sin ever to trust themselves again into Tai-ping hands." To their help went Gordon and his men. He would be glad to relieve the garrison ; and in going there he was 30 GENERAL GORDON. showing a bold front to the enemy. He planted his guns among the ruins at Fushan, and opened his fire at once. There was a strong stockade built by the rebels, and towards this he directed his 32-pounders and 12-pounder howitzers. A second stockade on the opposite bank was treated in a similar manner. But, after three hours' bom- bardment, the rebels gathered in such force that Gordon gave up fighting for the night. In the morning he saw, with surprise and satisfaction, that the enemy were retreating towards the great rebel centre, Soochow. When they had gone, Gordon hastened to take his force up to Chanzu ; and his men, with a body of Mandarin troops, went through the gates. The inmates of the besieged town were delighted to welcome their deliverer ; the Mandarins received them in state, and the poor people testified to their joy. Gordon writes that he saw the young rebel chiefs v/ho had come over. They were very intelligent, were splendidly dressed in their silks, and had big pearls in their caps. The head-man was about thirty-five years old, and was ill and worn with anxiety. " He was so very glad to see me, and chin-chinned most violently, regretting his inability to give me a present, which I told him was not the custom of our people." This victory, won so rapidly, brought other results than those which seemed to lie on the surface. That which Gordon had anticipated came to pass : his men were put into good spirit, and had strong faith in their leader, who at once set himself to bring about some much-needed reform in the discipline of his army. One thing that greatly encour- aged him was the fact that certain British officers whom he knew, and who held him in high esteem, had asked leave to serve under him in China. He was, therefore, strengthened and comforted by his own people. THE EVER-VICTORIOUS ARMY. 31 Besides this, he was now Brigadier- General, the grade of Tsung-ping being granted him by Imperial decree. Li-Hung- Chung thought well of him, and \vas anxious to aid him in every possible way ; and w-ith his assistance Gordon soon estabhshed something like order in his force. He instituted a system of regular payments. Previously the men had looked upon plunder as their chief and legitimate reward ; but this was not at all in accordance with the views of their new General, who agreed to give the private soldiers, who were all Chinese, from ;^ 3 los. to^4 10 s. Lieutenants were to have ^ 30 a month, and colonels ^75 or ;^ 85. The commissioned officers were none of them Chinese — they were English, American, Germans, Frenchmen, and Spaniards. All were paid monthly by a Chinese official named Kah, in the presence of Gordon himself. At first the General had some difficulty w^ith the uniform. It was unlike anything which the Chinese wore, and the men were called by their countrymen, who rejoice in giving nick- names to everybody, " Imitation Foreign Devils." But later, when the force had been everyw^here successful, it was thought that their dress had something to do with it, for the courage of the rebels died away when" they had to fight foreigners. Gordon saw that the men were well-armed, as w^ell as well-dressed, well-paid, and well-fed. He was generous in everything. He prepared a flotilla of steamboats and Chi- nese gunboats ; saw that there was a proper supply of all things that would be needed for transport and actual fight- ~ ing ; and he had his men well drilled in every respect. When things were in perfect readiness, and not till then, Gordon summoned his force to action. He decided to march to Quinsan, an important rebel centre. It was known that he intended to attack either that or one of the other 32 GENERAL GORDON. two centres, Taitsan or Soochow. He decided to go first to Quinsan, because of the existence there of an arsenal and a shot manufactory, and if that were taken, the power of the other two cities would become less. But as he was march- ing toward Quinsan, news reached him of an act of great treachery on the part of the rebels, which arrested his pro- gress, and caused him to take his army toward Taitsan. The circumstances that led to this change of route were these : the commander of Taitsan had sent to Governor Li to say that the town would surrender to the Imperialists. General Li therefore sent some men forvvard to take posses- sion. But as soon as they arrived the rebels changed their tactics, and beheaded two hundred of the Imperialists, mak- ing prisoners of the rest. When Gordon heard of this, he decided that the punish- ment of such treachery must be swift, sure, and terrible ; and he resolved to be the agent in carrying out the retribution, which had been justly deserved. Without loss of time or hesitation he marched on Taitsan. He knew that there was no comparison between his army and that which he had to oppose. The garrison was manned by ten thousand soldiers, while he had only three thousand to bring against them ; but he did not falter in the least. Making his preparations step by step, with care, but with romantic courage, he took stockades, bridges, and ports, placed his guns in position, and bringing his artillery forward, opened fire upon the bat- tlements. The rebels, headed by some foreigners who had joined them, met the assault with stubborn and energetic resistance ; but it was no use. They gained one temporary advantage ; but when the battle ceased, Gordon had won a decisive victory. He said in his letter home that Taitsan was very important, and its capture well merited ; adding, " It openi out a large tract of country ; and the Chinese THE EVER-VICTOKIOUS ARMY. Zl generals were delighted, and have said all sorts of civil things about the force. I am now a Tsung-ping Mandarin (which is the second highest grade), and have acquired a good deal of influence, though I do not care about that over much." He had lost a great many men, and among them the brave leader of the assault. Captain Bannen. An incident followed which gave rise to considerable com- motion in England. Our country has always set its face unflinchingly and res- olutely against all cruelty and oppression. As soon as news reaches us of any outrage, we are up in arms immediately. We do not always wait until we are quite sure that the news is true before we become righteously indignant. These feel- ings are so natural to Englishmen, and on the whole so noble, that none would wish to see them changed ; though some- times, no doubt, the innocent suffer the blame instead of the guilty. Certainly, Charles Gordon and his associates had a consid- erable amount of censure passed upon them. The Imperialists condemned seven prisoners to suffer a slow and ignominious death. They were to be beheaded ; but before this was done they were tied up and exposed to view, with arrows sticking in them, and pieces of skin flayed from their arms. That was very terrible : to our English and Christian ideas it was perfectly horrible ; and when the news reached this country it awoke a storm of indignant notices in the press. Letters were written which represented the matter to be worse than it really was. The letters were signed " Eye-witness," " Justice and Mercy," and so on, and de- clared that all kinds of cruelties were practised. In China stories were invented and circulated, which were reproduced in England, and did great harm. In the deaths mentioned above, Gordon had no part what- 34 GENERAL GORDON. ever. The Mandarins of their own accord punished the rebels. Gordon was exceedingly displeased at what had occurred, and said so in the plainest and strongest words possible ; and General Brown, who commanded Her Majesty's forces in China, went so far as to declare that if such a thing occurred again he would refuse any longer to assist the Imperial- ists. But there was a great stir made both in China and at home, and Gordon thought it was wise and necessary to write the following letter to the Shanghai Shipping News : — " 15th June, 1863. " I am of belief that the Chinese of this force are quite as merciful in action as the soldiers of any Christian nation could be ; and in proof of this can point to over seven hun- dred prisoners taken in the last engagement (Quinsan) who are now in our employ. Some have entered our ranks and done service against the rebels since their capture. But one life has been taken out of this number, and that one was a rebel, who tried to induce his comrades to fall on the guard, and who was shot on the spot. It is a great mistake to im- agine that the men of this force are worthless. They will, in the heat of action, put their enemies to death as the troops of any nation would do ; but when the fight is over, they will associate as freely together as if they had never fought. . . . If ' Observer ' and ' Eye-Witness,' with their friend * Justice and Mercy,' would come forward and communicate what they know, it would be far more satisfactory than writing state- ments of the nature of those alluded to by the Bishop of Victoria. And if any one is under the impression that the inhabitants of the rebel districts like their rebel masters, he has only to come up here to be disabused of his idea. I do not exaggerate when I say that upwards of one thousand five hundred rebels were killed in their retreat from Quinsan, by the villagers, who rose en tnasse^ THE EVER-VICTORIOUS ARMY. 35 Gordon needed patience and forbearance as much as courage. Not only did lie receive blame from those " who sit at home at ease," and who are always the worst to please of any, but he had some difficulty with his men, and espe- cially with his officers. He told his soldiers that there was to be no plunder ; but Taitsan was plundered without mercy. He thanked the men and officers for their bravery at Taitsan, but expressed his dissatisfaction at the lack of discipline. Next he chose other officers for certain posts, especially giv- ing an important position to Deputy-Assistant Commissary- General Cooksley, to whom he gave the title of Lieutenant- Colonel, and whom he placed over the commissariat and military stores. This offended the majors who were to act under him, and they sent in their resignations, which Gordon accepted. There came a time when everybody praised him, but it was not yet. At present people did not know him as well as they did afterwards ; and censure and suspicion tried the soul of the brave man, who had only one desire, and that was to do the right. As we see, not only his Chinese exploits, but his whole life standing out in its grand simplicity, we cannot but feel that he proved himself then and ever a true soldier of the Lord Jesus Christ ; and we say, with one accord, " Let us go thank him and encourage him." CHAPTER V. SUCCESSES AND TRIALS. " To the dauntless temper of his mind, He hath a wisdom that doth guide his valor To act in safety." — Macbeth. THE taking of Quinsan was one of the most effective of Gordon's engagements, and it was most cleverly accomplished. He went to the attack with 600 artillery and 2,300 infantry. They were opposed by a force of about 12,000. Quinsan was a large city, four and a half miles in circumference. There is a high hill in the centre, and the enemy from the top of it could obtain a view of the country all around. It was commanded by a skilful chief, named Moh Wang, who placed men on the hill to telegraph to him all the movements of the Ever-Victorious Army. Gordon made his first attack upon the east gate ; but he saw that the best plan would be to bring up his little steamer Hyson to work. Quinsan and Soochow were placed between Lake Yansing and some considerable creeks. As the two places, Quinsan and Soochow, depended greatly upon each other, he knew that it was very important, from his point of view, to cut off all communication between them. So having invested the city by means of his own soldiers and some of SUCCESSES AND TRIALS. 37 the Imperialist forces, in order that the enemy should not retreat to Chanzu, he brought the Hyson, accompanied by a fleet of eighty sail, upon the scene. There was a village only a few miles from Quinsan, which might be called the key to the city ; and he therefore came at once to this village, Chanzu, though he had to come through twenty miles of water occupied by the enemy. He was successful in sur- prising and capturing the rebel garrison at Chanzu, and there he left three hundred riflemen and a good part of his force in charge. He himself, taking only the well-armed crew of the Hyson, commanded by an American of great ability. Captain Davidson, went toward Soochow to reconnoitre. They fell in with a large body of the rebels, and at once fired upon them with such effect that they retreated, leaving Gor- don master of the canal. The steamer pursued the fugitives, and v/ent on her victorious course almost unmolested, taking canal, stockades, and ports, with very little trouble. Gordon's heart was set upon Soochow as the next strong- hold to be attacked, and he managed to steam up to its very walls. When he had seen what he wished, he steamed back to Chanzu, arriving just in time, for the rebel garrison were trying to escape. But the Hyson was again brought into requisition, and the Tai-pings, who were almost fright- ened to death, were driven back. They need not have been, if they had only known how to use their vast forces wisely ; for they were numerous enough to have won repeated victories where they really had defeat. It was thought that no fewer than 15,000 rebels were beaten at Quinsan. Gordon and his force at last entered unopposed into Quinsan through the east gate. He gave orders that the prisoners were to be treated as if they had surrendered to British officers. No one was to be beheaded or ill-used. 38 GENERAL GORDON. The result of this merciful command was that seven hundred men entered the ranks of the Ever- Victorious. This engage- ment was of the utmost consequence. Gordon had only two killed and five wounded, but the victory was most decisive and important. He wrote home, declaring that the steamers would do more than anything to hasten matters. " The horror of the rebels at the steamer is very great. When she whistles they cannot make it out." He told them that he was raised to the rank of Tsung-ping, or Red Button Mandarin. He described the country as wonderful for creeks and lakes, and said that it was very rich. " My occupying this city enables the Imperial Government to protect an enormous district, rich in corn, etc., and the people around are so thankful for their release that it is quite a pleasure. They were in a desperate plight before our arrival, as their way lay between the rebels and Imperialists. . . . You may hea:.- of cruelties being committed ; do not believe them. We took nearly 800 prisoners, and some of them have entered my body-guard, and fought since against their old friends the rebels. If I had time I could tell such extraordinary stories of the way men from distant provinces meet each other, and the way villagers recognize in our ranks old rebels who have visited villages for plunder ; but I really have no time for it. I took a Mandarin who had been a rebel for three years, and have him now ; he has a bullet in his cheek, which he received wlien fighting against the rebels. The rebels I took into my guard were snake flag-bearers of head chiefs, and they are fiiU of the remarks of their old masters. The snake- flags are the marks of head men in both armies. Whenever they are seen there is a chief present. When they go, you know the rebels will retire. At Taitsan the snake- flags remained till the last, and this accounted for a severe fight. SUCCESSES AND TRIALS. 39 ... I dare say I shall be loudly attacked in the House of Commons. ... As you say, the pay is not my motive. I really do think I am doing a good service in putting down this rebellion, and so would any one if he saw the delight of the villagers at getting out of their oppressors' hands." After capturing Quinsan, the General had a time of quiet, inasmuch as no big battles were fought, but othenvise he was tried exceedingly. He saw that it would be wise to make Quinsan his future head-quarters, as, from a military point of view, the situation was incomparably better than Sung-kiang. But when the troops heard of it, they became rebellious and mutinous. They preferred Sung-kiang, because there they could easily dispose of the plunder which they hoped and intended to secure, and it was not their wish at all to move. But, of course, Gordon was resolved to have his own way. And there came a time when a severe test must be applied in order to settle once for all the question as to which was the mightier — the Ever- Vic- torious x'Vrmy or its dauntless leader. 'NMien the artillery was ordered to fall in, the answer was a blank refusal to do so, accompanied by a threat to attack and kill all the officers, whether English or Chinese. They made a proclamation to General Gordon to this effect, hand- ing it to him in writing. Gordon called them before him, and addressed them : " Now, my men, I want to know who is responsible for this proclamation, and why you did not fall in when ordered to do so? " No one spoke. Every one was afraid to confess the truth. Gordon believed that the non-commissioned ofliccrs had stirred up the men to mutiny, but he wanted to be sure. " Now are you going to tell me ? Very well, then, we will lose no time. One in every five of you will be shot ! " This was startling, and the men at once began to groan 40 GEXEKAL GORDON. and cry. One of the powers which has helped Gordon in his remarkable career is the ability to read character and see into human nature. He noticed one man who was particularly loud in his lamentations. "That is the man who is the ringleader of this affair," said Gordon to himself. He was always prompt in action, and he now acted upon the impulse of the moment, feeling sure he was right. With his own hand he seized the man and dragged him forth, giv- ing at once the grim order — " Shoot that man / " He was obeyed instantly. He then called all the non-commissioned officers before him. " You are ordered into confinement for an hour," he said. " It is an hour given to you for thought. If at the end of that time you do not give up the name of the writer of that proclamation, and if you do not cause the men to fall in, you know your fate ; every fifth man will be shot." This had the desired effect. The name of the person who was responsible for the proclamation was given in, and Gor- don had the satisfaction of discovering that he had shot the right man. After this he had no difficulty from the men ; the mutiny was at an end, and they were ready to march to Quinsan and take up their head-quarters there as the General wished. But Charles Gordon had not disposed of all his troubles, nor could he do so easily. Unfortunately, General Ching was jealous of him, and sought to injure him. Ching thought too much was made of Gordon. Very naturally he believed himself the better man of the two, and did not approve of the rewards and the honors which were given to the foreigner. He wrote letters to Li-Hung-Chang, which he hoped would cause him to view Gordon with disfavor. He did one very dastardly thing — he caused some of his SUCCESSES AND TRIALS. 41 gunboats to open fire on Gordon's army, declaring after- wards that it was a joke. When pressed further he said that he had not recognized the flag on which his troops had fired. Gordon could be exceedingly angry on occasion, and he became so now. He retorted that General Ching knew very well what he was doing ; and he wrote to Li-Hung- Chang insisting upon this. When he got no satisfaction, he resolved that he would go and fight Ching himself; but Li would not allow this. He sent a messenger to Ching, who obliged him to apologize to Gordon. But greater troubles still awaited the victorious General. He had to fight with many things besides the rebellion. If he had allowed the men to behave as they pleased with impunity, if he had permitted plunder and self-indulgence on their part, they would have been better pleased. He was too strict and too honorable to give them satisfaction. He was very desirous of making at once an attack on Soochow, and to do this he wished to march on Wokong ; but the artillery ofiicers declared that they would not serve under Major Trapp, whom Gordon had appointed. The intrepid General at once set to work to find other men ; but discovering that he was doing this, the officers yielded, and were forgiven. Soochow is a most important city on the Grand Canal. To take it was Gordon's intense desire. It is surrounded by water-ways ; ancj by water Gordon resolved to attack it. If that were wrested from the rebels, very much would be gained. "~~~" First, Gordon desired to take Kahpoo and Wokong, because if these places were secured, he would have the keys to the rebel positions. The Imperialists had their ideas and Gordon had his ; and if they were divided as to ways and means, they were united in the wish to v/in the city of 42 GENERAL GORDON. pagodas, the capital of the province. Gordon first attempted to take the two forts of Kahpoo, because then he would have possession of the water-ways and roads leading to Soochow. He therefore brought his steamers, Firefly and Cjickct, and stormed Kahpoo, He went from thence to Wokong, which place he beleaguered on every side. Four thousand prisoners were taken, several important chiefs among them. The leader, Yang Wang, hearing who was coming, had fled ; but the two places, Kahpoo and Wokong, were soon in the hands of the Ever- Victorious Army. And just at that time, with his successes fresh upon him, Charles Gordon became so disheartened that he resolved to throw up the command, and abandon the whole expedition. He was discouraged by the opposition and want of confi- dence that he continually met with, when he had a right to look for other treatment. The Chinese Government failed to send him the money that was due to his troops ; and the men and officers were both angry with him for his strictness of discipline and determination not to permit plunder. Nearly half the Ever- Victorious Army deserted their com- mander immediately after he had led them to victory. He could not have kept up the numbers at all, but that he recruited from the rebel prisoners. His colleague Ching also added greatly to his perplexities and annoyances. He wished to turn more of the prisoners into soldiers, and Gordon, having extracted a promise that they should be well treated, allowed this — to discover that five of the men were beheaded. What troubled him still more was the fact that Governor Li-Hung-Chang misunderstood him as completely as the rest. He could not believe in the disinterestedness of the brave Englishman with whom he had to deal. Afterwards he knew the man, and loved and honored him for his worth SUCCESSES AND TRIALS 43 and true nobility of mind and character ; but at present he seemed to suspect that it was for his own ends that he wished to secure the payment of the men. And he kept back suppUes, and even broke his promise. Altogether, though he was sorry on many accounts, Charles Gordon came to the conclusion that it would be well for him to heed the advice of his friends at home, and resign his commission and position in China. So he went to Shanghai for the purpose. But he did not throw up his commission after all ; for when he reached Shanghai he heard tidings that roused all his feelings of courage and chivalry, and sent him back to his post of danger and responsibility with greater resolution than ever. I CHAPTER VI. THE REBEL BURGEYINE. " Men were deceivers ever; One foot on sea, and one on shore. To one thing constant never." — Much Ado About Nothing. THE news which caused Charles Gordon to alter his course and remain at his post concerned the man who, with Ward, had first originated, and then been dismissed from, the Ever-Victorious Army. Biu-gevine had been hoping again to become the commander ; but finding that this was by no means the wish of the authorities, he became jealous and reckless, aiad eventually tried to get together an army of his own. He then entered into communication with the Tai-pings, and sought to propitiate those against whom he had formerly fought. At the time when Gordon reached Shanghai, he had contrived, by the help of a man named Jones, the renegade master of the war-ship Kiao- Chiao, to seize and ap[>ropriate the vessel. The steamer belonged to the Chinese ; but Burgevine manned it with desperate fellows from different parts of the world, and actually steamed up to Soochow. Gordon hearing of this returned to Quinsan. He felt THE REBEL BURGEVINE. 45 that so far from giving up now, duty called him to be more energetic and devoted than ever. It was feared on all hands that Burgevine might seduce some of Gordon's men to his side. He had, by his unscrupulous way of rewarding them when he was with them before, made himself popular with the men. He offered the rebels who enlisted with him plenty of pay, and " license to sack every town they took, including Shanghai " ; and it would have been little wonder if Gordon's men, angry at being thwarted and kept out of their money, had mutinied. It was a very anxious time ; but Gordon was watchful and prompt. He had to person- ally superintend the defence of both Quinsan and Kahpoo. He had to repulse several attacks, which were made with firm resistance and determination. He was also in a very isolated and dangerous position ; but his courage and his trust in God did not fail. People were urging him to make an attack on Soochow \ but he thought it would be rash to do so, and he felt that so many lives were entrusted to his care that he would have to exercise the utmost caution. He Avrote : — " We have, by the capture of Wokong, very seriously affected the rebels ; and if I can carry out my plan of taking Woosieh, and thus surrounding Soochow, I do not think it will be necessary to attack that place, but think they will leave. Burgevine is a very foolish man, and little thinks the immense misery he will cause this unhappy country ; for of the ultimate suppression of the rebellion I have little doubt, as it is a government receiving revenues contending with a faction almost blockaded, and drawing on exhaustible funds. The Imperialists are not likely to feel any great liking for foreigners, after the way they have been treated by them. I am thinking of attacking a fortified post of the rebels at Ping Wang, which threatens the city of Wokong, in a few 46 GENERAL GORDON. days ; and from which they have lately been making raids into the Imperialists' territory." It was felt by all who knew the true state of affairs that General Gordon and his force were in the greatest possible peril. General Brown sent to the Secretary of War to tell him that Gordon's men had formerly been in the pay of Ward, and that Burgevine had already been joined by some of Gordon's officers. It was quite possible that the guns belonging to the British Government might get into the hands of the rebels through the treachery of some dis- affected men, and then General Brown himself and his station at Shanghai would be endangered. He decided to visit Gordon ; and when he saw the efficient state of his gar- rison, he was more assured. The Imperialists soon joined the Ever-Victorious Army ; and Gordon was at least better protected than he had been before. At that time he had a remarkable escape. There were some stockades at Patachow which Gordon decided to at- tack. The Patachow Bridge was three hundred yards long, and had fifty-three arches. Twenty-six of the arches fell " like a pack of cards," and two men were killed. Ten others would have been, but that, hearing the noise, they ran. Gordon had removed one archway to let a steamer pass through ; and this probably weakened the whole struct- ure. He said he regretted it immensely, as it was unique and very old ; in fact, a thing to come many miles to see. General Gordon was one evening sitting on the parapet of the bridge, smoking a cigar, when the stone on which he sat was struck by two shots. He went to see what had been the meaning of the shots, and had not proceeded far before the part of the bridge on which he had been sitting gave way, and went splashing into the water. Was not this another proof that God took care of our hero ? THE REBEL B URGE VINE. 47 He was preserved on another occasion, when his Hfe might have been taken by treachery. Some of the Euro- peans who had joined the rebels sent to him to say that they were dissatisfied with their position at Soochow, and wished him to meet Burgevine and hold a consultation with him. Gordon recognized the danger, but he did not hesitate. He talked matters over with Burgevine, who told him that he and his men had resolved to leave the Tai-pings ; but they would recjuire some guarantee from the Imperialists that they would not be punished. Gordon gave the promise, and offered to take some of the men into his service. But at the next interview Burgevine had a proposal to make to Gordon. He confessed to him that his great de- sire was to found an empire of his own in China ; and he invited Gordon to join him in the enterprise. He said that together they could take Soochow, and turning out Imperi- ahsts and rebels alike, appropriate the treasure in Soochow, and proceed to raise an army and march on Pekin. But he found that he had gready mistaken his man, for Gordon, by no means allured, treated the proposal as it deserved. Burgevine, however, had not ceased to treat with Gordon. He sent secretly to tell him that he and his gang intended to desert and throw themselves upon his protection. They asked Gordon to send up from his signal lines a rocket, on which they would board the Hyson, as if to capture the steamer. It was carried out as they wished ; and so much in earnest did they appear, that a host of rebels rushed to their assistance. The Hyson, however, steamed away, and carried the deserters to a place of safety. There were thirty-six of them, but Burgevine was not among them ; he and other Europeans, having been suspected by the rebel chief, were retained. The deserters were very glad to find themselves with Gordon, who wrote the following letter to the 48 GENERAL GORDO X. principal Wangs of Soochow, in order to get them to release the Europeans : — "Stockades, Patachow, i6th October, 1863. " To their Excellencies Chung Wang and Moh Wang. " Your Excellencies : You must be already aware that I have, on all occasions where it lay in my power, been merci- ful to your soldiers when taken prisoners ; and not only been so myself, but have used every endeavor to prevent the Imperial authorities from practising any inhumanity. Ask for the truth of this statement any of the men who were taken at Wokong, and who, some of them, must have returned to Soochow, as I placed no restriction on them whatever. " Having stated the above, I now ask your Excellencies to consider the case of the Europeans in your service. In every army each soldier must be actuated with faithful feel- ings to fight well. A man made to fight against his will is not only a bad soldier, but he is a positive danger, causing anxiety to his leaders, and absorbing a large force to pre- vent his defection. If there are very many Europeans in Soochow, I would ask your Excellencies if it does not seem to you much better to let there men quietly leave your ser- vice if they wish it : you would thereby get rid of a con- tinual source of suspicion, gain the sympathy of the whole foreign nations, and feel that your difficulties are all from without. Your Excellencies may think that decapitation would soon settle the matter, but you would then be guilty of a crime which will bear its fruits sooner or later. In this force officers and men come and go at pleasure, and although it is inconvenient at times, I am never apprehen- sive of treason from within. Your Excellencies may rely on what I say, that should you behead the Europeans who THE REBEL SURGE VINE. 49 are with you, or retain them against their free will, you will eventually regret it. The men have committed no crime, and they have done you good ser/ice, and what they have tried to do by escape is nothing more than any man, or even animal, will do when placed in a situation he does not like. " The men could have done you great harm, as you wiL no doubt allow, and I consider that your Excellencies have reaped great benefit from their assistance. As far as I am personally concerned, it is a matter of indifference whether the men stay or leave : but as a man who wishes to save these unfortunate men, I intercede. " Your Excellencies may depend you will not suffer by letting these men go. You need not fear their communicat- ing information. I knew your force, men and guns, long ago, and therefore cannot get that information from them. If my entreaties are unavailing for these men, of yourself send down the wounded, and perform an action never to be regretted. I write the above with my own hand, as I do not wish to entrust the matter to a linguist, and trusting you will accede to my request. — I conclude, your Excellencies' obe- dient servant, " C. G. Gordon, Major Commanding:'' It will be seen from this letter how very fearful Gordon was that Burgevine would be decapitated ; so he sent the letter and some presents to Moh Wang at once, and all the Enfields that the deserters had brought in. Moh Wang replied that the Europeans need not have left, for they were free to come or go as they pleased : but they had not only ran away, but had taken gun-boats, horses, and arms with them. Gordon replied that he had returned all they had brought. Moh Wang asked the messenger why the Euro- 50 GENERAL GORDON. peans had ran away, and was told that it was because they felt sure Gordon would ultimately win and the rebels be defeated. " Do you think that Gordon will take the city?" inquired Moh Wang. The messenger promptly answered, '• Yes." " Would it be possible for us to buy Gordon over on our side?" " Indeed, no ; it would be quite impossible." Gordon said in one of his letters, written at this time : — " This defection of the Europeans is an almost extinguishing blow to the rebels ; and from the tone of Moh Wang's letter, so different from the one he wrote to General Staveley a little time ago, I feel convinced that the rebel chiefs would come to terms if they had fair ones offered them. I mean to do my best to bring these about ; and I am sure that if I do so, I shall gain a greater victory than any captures of cities would be." Owing to Gordon's intervention, the rebel Burgevine was not killed. That he was scarcely worth saving was abun- dantly proved afterward. He had actually, while offering to surrender, been planning with his lieutenant, Jones, to entrap Gordon. But Jones was not so base as to yield to his wishes, although his refusal filled Burgevine with murderous desires towards Jones. On one occasion he fired upon the lieuten- ant ; and it was this that caused Jones and the rest to desert him. Jones thus described the affair, which occurred when Burgevine had been drinking : — " At noon I went to Burgevine, who was lying asleep on a 32-pounder gun-boat, and asked him whether I should as- sist him to get ashore, as many of our officers and men were making remarks on the condition he was in. On his de- manding the names of those who had made the remarks, I THE REBEL B URGE VINE. 51 declined giving them, and shortly afterwards again attempted to remonstrate with him in company with another officer. On my again declining to give up names, Burgevine drew out his four-barrelled pistol, which he cocked and discharged at my head from a distance of about nine inches. The bul- let entered my cheek, and passed upwards. It has not yet been extracted. I exclaimed, ' You have shot your best friend ! ' His answer was, ' I know I have, and I wish to God I had killed you.' " Burgevine wrote to a local paper confirming the truth of this statement : — *•' Captain Jones's account of the affair is substantially cor- rect ; and I feel great pleasure in bearing testimony to his veracity and candor whenever any affair with which he is personally acquainted is concerned." Gordon succeeded in saving the life of the man who wanted to rob him of his own. He said afterAvards, " I am afraid he is a rascal, but I acted to the best of my judg- ment." Moh Wang sent him away in safety, and he was delivered to the care of the American consul. No proceedings were instituted against him, in accordance with Gordon's request that he should be allowed to leave the country. The foreigners whose escape had been made by means of the Hyson drew up a document expressing their gratitude to General Gordon, and they gave before the United States con- sul a full account of the plot in which Burgevine was impli- cated, and the counter-plot in which they engaged to thwart him. CHAPTER VII. IN THE THICK OF THE FIGHT. "What do you think of me?" "As of a man faithful and honorable." — Hamlet. IN the meantime General Gordon had plenty of work be- fore him. Mr. Andrew Wilson in his interesting book, Colonel Gordon's Chinese Campaign., says : — " In almost all these engagements Colonel Gordon was very much exposed, for he foimd it necessary, or at least expedient, to be constantly in the front, and often to lead in person. Though brave men, the officers of his force would sometimes hang back, and their commander had occasionally to take one of them by the arm and lead him into the thick of the fire. He himself seemed to bear a charmed life, and never carried any arms, even when fore- most in the breach. His only weapon on these occasions was a small cane, with which he used to direct his troops ; and in the Chinese imagination this cane soon became mag- nified into 'Gordon's Magic Wand of Victory.' His celestial followers, finding that he was almost invariably victorious, and escaping unhurt, though more exposed than IN THE THICK OF THE FIGHT. 53 any other man in the force, naturally concluded, in accord- ance with their usual ideas, that the little wand he carried ensured protection and success to its owner. Every one who knows the Chinese character will be aware that such an idea must have given great encouragement to the Ever- Victorious Army, and was of more service to its commander tlian could have been any amount of arms which he himself could possibly have carried." Gordon would no doubt have been glad if to his wand had been given the power with which it was credited ; and if, besides winning him victory, it could have warded off disease, and protected him from trouble. The weather became very hot, and his men fell sick of fever and other ailments, so that it was necessary to remove the troops from Quinsan, and they were taken to a place six miles from Soochow, called Wai Quaidong. A constant source of irritation and trouble to Gordon was found in General Ching. Although he was supposed to act in concert with Gordon, he much more frequently acted entirely on his own responsibility, leaving his supposed col- league altogether in the dark as to his intentions and move- ments. Indeed there can be little doubt but that again and again the Chinese general endeavored to thwart the Englisli- man, although they were both understood to be fighting in the same cause. This, of course, added greatly to the burden already laid upon Gordon. "Shall I ever take Soochow?" was the question that fre- quently presented itself to him, and sometimes his hope grew faint within him. His friends thought that the odds were so much against him that he would never succeed. He had very little encouragement from the Imperialist Gov- ernment, in whose cause he was risking his life ; and, indeed; he had little cheer from any side. 54 GENERAL GORDON. The following letter describes better than any other words could do the engagements that followed those already re- lated : — " You will remember my having mentioned the fact of the Europeans and Burgevine having come over from the rebels. Since then the following have been our movements : we started for the Fifty-three Arched Bridge — alas ! now only twenty-seven arched — Patachow, and made a great detour of the lakes of Kahpoo, to throw the rebels off the scent, ^^'e left at two p.m., and although the place, Wulung- chiao, which I wanted to attack, was only a mile and a half to the west of Patachow, I made a detour of thirty miles to confuse them, on a side they were not prepared for. It turned out wet ; and the night of the 23d of October was miserable enough, cooped up in boats as we were. However, it cleared a little before dawn. About seven A.M. we came on the stockades. I had asked the Imjieri- alists under General Ching to delay their attack from Pata- chow till I had become well engaged ; but, as usual, Gen- eral Ching must needs begin at half-past five a.m., and he got a good dressing from the rebels, and was forced to re- tire. His loss was nineteen killed and sixty-seven wounded, while the Taho gun-boat admiral, who had abetted him in his tom-fooling, lost thirty killed and wounded. We lost none ; three were slightly bruised. The chief head of Soochow, Moh Wang, knew we were out, but had no idea of our going to Wulungchaio. He is greatly angered, and in addition to this has had trouble with his brother Wangs, who reproach him for having tnisted the Europeans, and for neglecting them. Eleven out of twenty-seven Wangs refused to go out and fight. Yesterday afternoon a Euro- pean left Soochow and came over. I had met him before, and consider that he had acted in a very brave manner in IN THE THICK OF THE FIGHT. 55 remaining in Soochow, He says Moh Wang does not understand our movements, and is very much put out at the loss of this place. They tried to take it back again on the twenty-fifth at dusk, but got defeated." After this there was an expedition sent to drive the rebels from Wokong. They had been driven out once, but suc- ceeded in coming back again, and establishing tliemselves in almost the same position which they had previously occu- pied. Gordon won another signal victory by making use of the steamer, which compelled them to retire by a narrow road on the bank of the Grand Canal. Thev were obliged to remain on this road, as there were many large creeks spanned only by high narrow bridges. The steamer kept a fire on the rebels the whole time, and as only two could go over the bridges abreast, of course it took a long time for them to pass. From 3000 to 4000 got away; but 1300 prisoners were taken, and one Wang was among them. Gordon, in his account of it, said — " The value of the victory is that we now have no fear for our rear, and I believe that the rebels in the silk districts seriously think of giving in. In the meantime, I am preparing an attack on the north of the city, which will take place about the ist of November." Leeku was the next place to be attacked. While Gordon was considering the method which it would be best to adopt, he found a letter written by one of his officers to a friend of the rebels, in which the writer, Captain Perry, informed his correspondent of the intended move- ments of the Ever-Victorious Army. Gordon was rather angry, as he well might be. " Captain Perry," he said, when the delinquent was before him, "what is the meaning of this? " " It seems to be a letter of mine." " Did you write it ? " 56 GENERAL GORDON. " Yes, certainly." " But do you know the harm that such a communication might do? If this information were carried to the Tai-pings, as it well might, and probably would be, do you not see how they might act upon it? " " I certainly did not intend to do harm ; my only idea was to convey a little piece of gossip. I thought the facts were of no importance." Gordon looked upon the matter more seriously. " Such an act might have had grave consequences," he said ; " but I shall pass over your fault this time, on condition that in order to show your loyalty you undertake to lead the next forlorn hope." His loyalty was proved by his death shortly after. Gordon had forgotten his own remark, until Perry was fighting by his side, and was struck down by a ball. Gordon caught his comrade in his arms, and he died there. It was at Leeku that Captain Perry was killed. To help Gordon in his endeavor to capture this town, 15,000 of the Imperialist forces joined him. The place was, carried with a rush, and Gordon captured their gun-boats, forty other boats, and sixty prisoners. Soochow was already doomed. Gordon wrote on the 3d of November : — " We, yesterday, after a hard fight, took all the stockades up to the walls along the east face of the city, and last night four Wangs came in to negotiate a surrender. I think that this is likely, and the heaviest part of our fighting is over. The rebels are having great trouble among themselves, and have to pay largely for food." Wanti still remained to be attacked. When that place had surrendered, Soochow would be almost completely invested. Already nearly all the roads and waterways lead- IN THE THICK OF THE FIGHT. 57 ing to it were closed, and the outposts occupied by Imperi- alist forces. Wanti was very strongly fortified ; but they managed to surround the place and take it in less than an hour. The rebels lost all courage as soon as Gordon approached, and they began to leave in large numbers at once. Yet some of them fought bravely, and Gordon took six hundred prisoners. One man, Lai-Wang, who was in charge of some stockades, volunteered to desert the rebels and join Gordon, bringing with him his 20,000 men ; but he was killed, and so pre- vented from carrying out his intentions. Gordon hoped that dissensions within the city of Soochow, and scarcity of rice, would hasten its surrender. He resolved to make the attack at Monding, on the Grand Canal. Gordon was now ready to commence the great work of taking Soochow. He was determined that before November passed something more should have been accomplished. He knew that he had to contend with overwhelming forces. In Soochow and its suburbs the Tai-ping forces numbered 40,000 men, while 38,000 more were not far away. Gordon had under his own command only between 3000 and 4000. General Ching had command of 25,000 Imperialists. Gordon had received some information respecting tlie enemy which encouraged him. Chung Wang, the Faithful King, was in difficulties. He must be exceedingly wary in his movements, or Nanking and Hangchow would be lost to him. If Nanking were once out of the rebels' hands the rebellion would certainly be doomed. The city was be- sieged, and the works around the Kaiachiao had been evacuated. That which took the strength from the arm of the Faithful King filled the leader of the Ever- Victorious Army with hope ; and he thought the time had now come to make the attack. 5S GENERAL GORDON. His first effort resulted in failure. He tried one night to take an inner line of the outer defences, and was defeated. It was soon after midnight, when Gordon, accompanied l^y Majors Howard and Williams, made the attempt. All were dressed in white turbans, so as to be seen by each other in the dark. Gordon ordered his men to wait for a given signal before they came on. Everything appeared quiet, and the men who were with Gordon were working at a stockade, when a tremendous fire of grape and musketry was opened upon them from the Tai-pings. Gordon held on with his usual gallantry, but those who came after him were obliged to retire. Moh Wang, who was in the front stockade, fought with great bravery. He had on neither shoes nor stockings ; and he and twenty Europeans, who were with him, fought like lions. The rebels, though they won a vic- tory, had very great losses. Meanwhile the Wangs in Soochow were divided in opinion. Some of them wished to come over to the Imperialists, and some would not listen to such a proposal. Moh Wang was especially indignant with all who thougiit of it. So some of the Wangs proposed that Gordon should again attack the east gate ; and they promised that when he did so, they would sliut Moh Wang out of the city, and take affairs into their own hands. Gordon, therefore, brought his guns to bear upon the stockades, which he soon laid in ruins. He had only a few men with him ; but he pressed forward, pushed through the stockades, and seized a fort. He thus gained a victory, but not without severe loss of valuable men and lives. On the 30th of November, 1863, Gordon issued the fol- lowing general order : — " The commanding officer congratulates the officers and the men of the force on their gallant conduct of yesterday. IN THE THICK OF THE FIGHT. 59 The tenacity of the enemy, and the great strength of their position, have unfortunately caused many casualties, and the loss of very valuable officers and men. The enemy, however, has now felt our strength, and, although fully prepared and animated by the presence of their most popular chiefs, have been driven out of their position, which sur- passes in strength any yet taken from them. The loss of the whole stockades on the east side of the city, up to the walls, has already had its effect, and dissension is now rife in the garrison, who, hemmed in on all sides, are already, in fact, negotiating defection. The commanding officer feels most deeply for the heavy loss, but is convinced that the same will not be experienced again. The possession of the position of yesterday renders the occupation of the city by the rebels untenable, and thus, victualling the city is lost to them." The Wangs who wished to surrender arranged to have an interview with Gordon, and he met them accordingly. They told him if he would attack the city they would not assist in its defence, on condition that he on his side wouki engage to protect them from the anger of the Imperialists. The Nar Wang asked Gordon to carry the city by assault, but was told that in that case no one would be able to protect it from being sacked and burnt. He advised the Wangs to give over one of the gates and thus prove their sincerity ; adding that if they would not do that, they must either leave the city or settle the matter in battle. They agreed to hand over a gate, and while General Ching was settling the terms of the capitulation, Gordon went to have an interview with Li-Hung-Chang in order to get the safety of the prisoners secured. The rebel chiefs were very brave men, and perhaps the bravest of all was Moh Wang. He would not consent to 60 GENERAL GORDON. surrender. He had an idea that some parleying was going on, and he called six other Wangs together that he might confer with them. The conference was conducted with con- siderable ceremonial. Moh Wang was seated on a dais in the reception hall, and began to discuss the state of the city, of which he was the commander. Four of the Wangs proposed capitulation, " No surrender ! " said the brave Moh Wang. " But we shall be overcome, and then it will be the worse for us," urged the rest. " No surrender ! " replied Moh Wang. " I, too, would say the same if we had any chance of suc- cess. But there is no hope. We are completely surrounded by the foreign devils, and our only chance is in capitulation." " No surrender ! " "We shall all be killed, and our cause will come to an ignominious end if we stubbornly hold out now. But it is possible to make terms with Gordon. He is an honorable man. He will ensure our safety." " No surrender ! " " But if we yield now we shall live to fight again ; if we are killed, of what avail will it be that we have stood out against all odds?" *' No surrender ! " again cried Moh Wang. Kong Wang, in his great anger, threw off his robes, and drew out a dagger. " Will you yiekl now? " " No surrender ! " The brave Wang was stabbed nine times — stabbed until he died. Then Kong Wang called on the others to assist him, and they carried the faithful W^ang from the reception hall into the outer court, and there cut his head from his body. Gordon had felt the greatest respect for Moh Wang. He IN THE THICK OF THE FIGHT. 61 knew that in similar circumstances he would have behaved in precisely the same manner. In his negotiations with Li-Hung-Chang he had laid great stress upon his good character, and Governor Li had given him a pledge that Moh Wang's life should be spared. Gordon was exceed- ingly grieved to hear when he came back that the brave Wang needed his services no longer. ' Now that he was dead, no one else was determined enough to hold out. Very litde time was lost ; for on that night Soochow surrendered, and the Ever- Victorious Army, with its intrepid leader, saw the success which they had for so long been desiring. CHAPTER VIII. AFTER THE SURRENDER OF SOOCHOW. " My honor is my life; both grow in one; Take honor from me, and my life is done." — Richard II. CHARLES GORDON was desirous, above all things, that the rebels who had surrendered should be treated according to British ideas of honor and humanity ; and the Wangs who knew him had every confidence that the captain of the Ever- Victorious Army would have influence enough to see that his wishes were carried into effect. But Gordon was only one man, and he was crippled and thwarted in many ways. He was especially anxious that two things should be guaranteed : that there should be no looting of the evacuated city, and no punishment of the Wangs. In regard to the former he did all that he could. So far as his own men were concerned, he was determined to keep them from ]jlunder. So he sent to Li Futai (Li-Hung- Chang) to ask that officers and men should at once receive, as a reward for their gallant services and their obedience in abstaining from plunder, and also as an incentive to future efforts, two months' extra pay. It seemed a reasonable request, and that the men should be satisfied with it proves Gordon to have had considerable power over them. AFTER THE SURRENDER OF SOOCHOW. 63 But to this appeal General Ching brought a denial ; pro- posing instead a gift of one month's pay. The men were disgusted. They talked of mutiny, and loud threats were issued that they would rush into Soochow, and pay themselves in the way which they liked best — by plunder. But Gordon was prompt to oppose this ; and in order to prevent it he issued his orders and marched the men back to their quarters at Quinsan. Knowing that they were safe there for the time being, he went to Soochow to see that his Chinese comrades were treating those who were at their mercy with courtesy, or at all events with humanity. He had understood that when Soochow was given into the power of the Imperialists no lives should be taken, and especially that pardon should be given to the Wangs through whose instrumentality the city had capitulated. Ching, who was in Soochow, informed him that Li had given orders for the Wangs to come before him the next day, and formally give up into his hands the keys of the gates of the city ; but that the Futai had prom- ised to be merciful to all. So far from this being the case, the Futai most treacher- ously had the six Wangs beheaded. There were many accounts of the event, the Chinese try- ing to make their own story good, and others telling stories of different kinds ; but the following was Charles Gordon's own statement. He wrote a clear account of all that hap- pened, except so far as it related to his own danger and exposure, from the 28th of November to the 9th of Decem- ber. After describing the conference of the ^^'angs in the reception hall of Moh Wang's palace, and the assassination of its master, he says : — " I should have mentioned that Nar Wang had told 64 GENERAL GORDON. General Ching, the night of the 3d of December, that Chung Wang had assembled the chiefs after his defeat on the 29th of November, and had proposed to them to vacate Soochow and Nanking, and return to the south. Moh Wang would not accede to it, as he hoped to hold the city, and had all his property there. The other Wangs, knowing of the nego- tiations, did not also entertain the idea. Another reason for Moh Wang's holding out was that his father and mother were hostages at Nanking with Tien W^ang. " On the morning of the 5 th of December there was some musketry to be heard in the city, but it soon ceased, and General Ching advanced some of his men to the east gate, while some of our men went to the north gate ; but I soon withdrew them, as I knew their propensities, and I then went to the Futai and asked him to give the men two months' pay, and let the force push on to Wusieh and Chan- chufu. " He objected, although the troops had had no remune- ration for any of the places that had fallen, and had had very hard and continuous fighting. I told him I could not keep them in hand unless he assented, and gave him until three o'clock p.m., and after that time I could not remain in command. I'his was a hard fact ; but both officers and men were of the same mind, and I had no option. I then went into the city and passed down to Nar Wang's house, and there met all the Wangs. I asked them if everything had gone on properly, and if they were content : they said ' Yes,' and appeared quite at ease. Their troops were in the streets, and everything appeared orderly. I then went down to Moh ^\'ang's i)alace and tried to get his body buried, but the peoi)le would not touch it. I then went out to the troops who were under arms, and soon after General Ching came in on the part of the Futai to arrange terms. AFTER THE SURRENDER OF SOOCIIOIV. 65 I referred him to the ofificers commanding regiments, but they could not agree. Ching then came to me, and begged me to try and get the force to accept one month's pay. After some demur I determined on making the force accept, as night was coming on, and I was afraid of the troops within making an attack on the Futai, as also on the rebels in the city. "I therefore assembled them, and addressing them, I let them know that I had succeeded in obtaining one month's pay. The men made a slight disturbance, which was quickly quelled, and, after one attempt to march down on the Futai, dismissed. I kept a guard on the Futai's boat that night, and being apprehensi\'e of further trouble if the troops remained, I marched them back at eight o'clock a.m. on the 6th of December ; and anticipating no further trouble with the men, I ordered the steamers Tsatiee and Hyson round to Wuhlungchaio, directing my chop to come up to the Pow Miin, or south gate. I then went into the city to Nar Wang's house, reaching it at half-past eleven o'clock, a.m. I had heard that the Wangs had to go out to the Futai at twelve o'clock noon, and that then the city would be given over. I should mention that General Ching had told me on the afternoon of the 5 th December that the Futai had written to Pekin respecting the capture of Soochow, and stating that he had amnestied the prisoners. At the Nar Wang's house I met all the Wangs with their horses saddled to leave for the Futai. I took Nar Wang aside, and asked him if everything was all right. He said ' Yes.' I then told him I had the intention of going to the Taho Lake to look for the Fi?-efl.y. He said he was coming do\\Ti to see me, and would like to stop two or three days. I said unless he thought there was an absolute necessity, the business I was going on was too important for me to stop ; but if he 66 GENERAL GORDON. thought he had any reason for wishing me to stay I would do so. He said ' No,' and I bade him and the other Wangs good-bye ; and they all passed me a few minutes afterwards, and twenty attendants, going towards the Low Miin, or east gate, on their way to the Futai. " I went into Moh Wang's palace, and saw General Ching's men come down to bury Moh Wang's body, according to my request. I then went to the east gate, or Low Miin, to while away the time until the steamers got round to Wuhlungchaio, intending to go round the wall to the Pow Miin, or south gate. Just as we arrived at the gate I saw a large crowd on the bank opposite the Futai's boat, and soon afterwards a large force of Lnperialists came into the city, and ran off to the right and left along the wall and into the city, yelling as they usually do when they enter a vacated stockade, and firing off their mus- kets in the air. I remonstrated with the Mandarins and soldiers, as their conduct was liable to frighten the rebels, who might retaliate and cause a row. After a few minutes General Ching came in, and I noticed he looked disturbed. I asked him eagerly if the interview was over, and had been satisfactory. He said the Wangs had never come to the Futai. I said I had seen them going, and asked him what could have become of them. He said he did not know, but thought they might have run away. I asked him what could have induced them to do so. He said they had sent out to the Futai to ask him to keep twenty thousand men, and to have half the city, building a wall inside ; that Nar Wang had said before that he wanted only two thousand five hundred ; and that at another time he said he wanted no soldiers, but merely to retire home ; that the Futai had objected to his demand, and that he had told him to go to the Teh Miin and stockade his men outside that gate ; and that he supposed Nar Wang had taken alarm and gone off. He said further that Nar AFTER THE SURRENDER OF SOOCHOW. 67 Wang had sent to Chung Wang for assistance. I asked him if he thought Nar Wang and the other Wangs had gone back to the rebels. He said, No ; but they would go back to their own homes, and live there. I did not feel very well satisfied, and asked Mr. Macartney, who was by, to go to Nar Wang's and see if he was there, and to reassure him if he was alarmed at anything. General Ching was anxious I should not go ; and as I had no suspicion, I Avent round the wall with him to the Pow Miin, which we reached at five o'clock v.^\. " I had frequently returned to the question of Nar Wang, but found that both General Ching and my interpreter seemed to evade the questions. When I got to the Pow Miin, I told General Ching I should go no further, as I felt uncomfortable about Nar Wang, and also heard volleys of musketry in the city, but not of any great amount. I asked General Ching what it was. He said there were some Kwangzi and Canton men who would not shave, and they were driving them out ot the city, having left tv\^o gates open for their retreat, but they were only frightening them out. General Ching then left, and I asked my interpreter what he thought of the state of affairs. He said that he thought the Imperialists, having got the city, did not care about keeping their agreement. I therefore decided on riding to Nar Wang's house, and seeing him if possible. I rode through the streets with my inter- preter, which were full of rebels, standing to their arms, and Imperialist soldiers looting. I went to Nar ^^'ang's palace, and found it ransacked. I met Nar Wang's uncle (a second in command), and he begged me to come to his house and protect it. He then withdrew the female household of Nar Wang, and accompanied them to his house, where there were some thousand rebels, under amis, in a barricaded street. It was now dark, and having seen the state of affairs, I wished much for Nar Wang's uncle to let my interpreter go, taking 68 GENERAL GORDON. orders for the steamers to come round and take the Futai prisoner (as he, the interpreter, thought the Futai had not yet beheaded the Wangs), and also an order to bring up my force. They, unfortunately, would not let my interpreter go, and I remained with them until two o'clock a.m. on the seventh, when I persuaded them to let him go and procure assistance. I had kept several bands from looting the house by my presence. About three a.m. one of the men who had gone out with the interpreter returned, and said that a body of the Imperialists had seized the interpreter and wounded him. I was now apprehensive of a general massacre, as the man made me understand that the order I had sent had been torn up, and therefore went out to go to Pow Miin to send by my boat additional orders, and also to look for the inter- preter. I found no traces of him ; and proceeding to the Pow Miin, was detained an hour by the Imperialists. It was then five a.isl, and I determined on proceeding for my guard to the Low Miin, or east gate, hoping to be able to seize the Futai, and to get back in time to save the house of Nar Wang's uncle. " I got to the Low Miin at six a.m., and sent on my guard to the house. It was, however, too late. It had l)een ran- sacked. I then left the city and met (icneral Ching at the gate. I told him what I thought, and then proceeded to the stockade to wait the steamers, as I was still ignorant that the Wangs had been beheaded. I thought they were pris- oners, and might still be rescued if the Futai could be secured. When awaiting the steamers, General Ching sent down Major Bailey, one of the officers I had sent him to command his artillery, who told me that General Ching had gone into the city, and sat down and cried. He then, to alleviate his grief, shot down twenty of his men for looting, and sent Major Bailey to tell me he had nothing to do with AFTER THE SURRENDER OF SOOCHOW. 69 the matter, that the Futai ordered him to do what he did, and that the Futai had ordered the city to be looted. I asked Major Bailey if the Wangs had been beheaded. He said that he had heard so. He then told me he had Nar Wang's son in the boat, and had brought him to me. The son came up, and pointing to the other side, said that his father and the Wangs had been beheaded. Then I went over and found six bodies, and recognized Nar Wang's head. The hands and bodies were gashed in a friglitful way, and cut down the middle. Nar Wang's body was partially buried. I took Nar Wang's head, and just then the steamers were seen coming up. The Futai, however, received some warning that I had left for Soochow by some other route. I then went to his boat and left him a note in English, informing him of what my intention had been, and also my opinion of his treachery. I regret to say that did not think fit to have this translated to him. " The two steamers then left for Quinsan, and one was sent down with Prince F. de Wittgenstein to inform the General of the state of affairs. This olficer had been with the force nearly a month, and had been informed in detail by me of the whole that had passed as above related. " On the 8th of December the Futai sent to persuade me that he could not have done otherwise ; and I blush to think that he could have got an Englishman to undertake a mission of such a nature. " C. G. Gordon, Major Commanding. " 1 2th December, 1S63. " P.S. — To continue. On the 8th of December I started with an escort and a steamer to General Ching's stockade, to obtain Nar Wang's body and some of his family who had been retained prisoners in General Ching's stockade. These I obtained, and also the body. 70 GENERAL GORDON. "General BrowTi arrived on the afternoon of the ninth, and took the protection of the force under his command. I had already spoken to the officers, and got them to agree to leave the solution to the British general. The disgust and abhorence felt by all of them was and is so great as to lead me to fear their going over en masse to the rebels ; but I have shown them that the sin would then be visited on the Chinese people, and not on the culprits who committed it. The rebels have no government at all, while the Im- perialists can lay claim to some. "C. G. Gordon." In this description of the events that occurred, Gordon does not lay stress upon his own danger, v/hich was certainly very great ; nor does he adequately express the indignation which filled him in regard to the treacherous murders of the rebel kings, and the iniquity of the Imperialists in sacking the city. He speaks of having gone to the house of Nar Wang's uncle, but does not say that when he did so he was at once surrounded by thousands of armed Tai-pings, who made him their prisoner. It seems wonderful that they did not use their power, and first torture and then kill him. But the Providence that has ahvays been over the man protected him, and he was kept in safety. It seems strange, too, thai they did not at least retain him as their prisoner, but they allowed him to leave when he asked to go, that he might seek for his interpreter, who had been wounded. One of the most bitter trials he ever had to endure was that of finding that his word had been broken, though not by himself, and the lives he had hoped to preserve had been sacrificed. It is little wonder that he shed tears of real sorrow. The Wangs were rebels ; but whatever they were, AFTER THE SURRENDER OF SOOCHOW. 71 he felt that they ought to have been treated with honesty and honor. He wanted — what true Enghshman does not ? — that the Chinese and all other people should have a high opinion of the motives that guide the men of his nation, and those with whom they have to do — that it should be known that they will keep their promises, and not shirk their responsibilities ; and we may be sure that it was with a sore heart, and very hurt feelings, that the hero waited Gen- eral Brown's investigations. The result of these were told in the following letter, writ- ten by General Brown to Sir Frederick Bruce and Lord de Grey : — " The circumstances attending and preceding the occu- pation of Soochow by the Imperialists are so calculated to produce an impression on public opinion unfavorable to the line of policy adopted by Her Majesty's Government in China, that I trust I need not apologize for entreating your most earnest consideration of the whole subject. " I received the first intimation of events passing in Soochow by a hurried note from Major Gordon, which reached me during the forenoon of the eighth instant ; a second note, which, although written previously, did not reach me until a later period, produced the impression that affairs were proceeding favorably ; consequently I was so far from apprehending the gravity of the crisis, that I decided to carry out my intention of proceeding to Hong- kong by the mail steamer, and was on board when Prince Wittgenstein, despatched by Major Gordon in the steamer l^satlee, brought a more complete and detailed narrative of events. "The additional information then received determined me to accede to the urgent entreaties of Major Gordon, of which the Prince was the bearer, to proceed to Quinsan, 72 GENERAL GORDON. the head-quarters of Major Gordon's force, at once. I arrived at Quinsan about three o'clock p.i\i. the following day, and immediately received from Major Gordon a report which differed but slightly from the more carefully compiled narrative enclosed. Major Gordon has been unable to express in writing the intense indignation and disgust with which the infamous and dastardly conduct of the Futai had inspired him. " You will perceive by Major Gordon's narrative that he was able to withdraw his force from before Soochow to Quinsan only under the formal promise from the Futai of one month's pay to the officers and soldiers, and that it required all his influence to prevail on them to accept these terms. The subsequent treachery of the Imperial authorities had, however, destroyed the confidence of all ranks ; their cruelties had turned the sympathies of Europeans in favor of the rebels ; and I found it necessary, in order to restore discijDline, and to avert a perhaps total defection of the men, to take Major Gordon and his force formally under my command. " This move on my part, I am happy to inform your Excellency, had the best effect ; all ranks now express their perfect satisfaction and reliance, and every symptom of hes- itation has disappeared from the force under Major Gordon's command. " I considered it expedient to have an interview with the Futai, with the view of hearing any explanatory statement he might have to offer, and to communicate to him my views on recent events, and explain the future relations between himself and Major Gordon. " I therefore despatched the interpreter to the consulate (Mr. Mayers), accompanied by two of my officers, to con- vey to him my desire for an interview. AFTER THE SURRENDER OF SOOCHOJF. 73 " Having thus prepared the way, I proceeded the follow- ing day to Soochow, but was met at Ching's stockade by the Futai, who had come out from the city to meet me. " I speedily ascertained that, though the Futai was pre- pared to take on himself the whole responsibility of murder of the Wangs and sacking of the city, and fully to exonerate Major Gordon from all blame, he was either unable or un- willing to offer any exculpation or explanation of his con- duct, and it only remained for me to express my opinion and future intentions. " This I did in as few words as possible. I expressed the indignation and grief with which the English people, together with all civilized nations of the world, would regard his cruelty and perfidy. I expressed to him my views on the impolicy of a fruitless severity, which paralyzed his friends, and drove the rebels to desperation, at the time when we had good reason to believe they were prepared to capitulate, and return to their homes in peace. " I then informed him that I should insist on the prom- ised reward of one month's pay ; that I deemed it my duty to refer the whole matter to our Minister at Pekin ; and that, pending such reference, Major Gordon had received instructions from me to suspend all active aid to the Impe- rialist cause further than protecting Soochow, knowing its importance to the safety of Shanghai, and warning the rebels to abstain from attacking his positions. I concluded by expressing my unhesitating conviction that, after what had occurred, my Government would withdraw all assistance hitherto afforded to the Imperial cause, recall Major Gordon and all English subjects serving under him, and disband the Anglo-Chinese force." CHAPTER IX. GORDON AGAIN TAKES THE FIELD. " In the reproof of chance Lies the true proof of man." — Troihis and Cressida. " He's truly valiant tliat can wisely suffer." — Timon of Athens. CHARLES GORDON'S feelings of indignation had been thoroughly aroused ; yet, when the warmth and ex- citement had a little died away, the question presented itself once more, " What is my duty ? " He thought more of the future than of the past, as he always has done, and does still. It did not occur to him to magnify his deeds or his suffer- ings ; he had tried to do his best, and act with prompt de- cision, and a measure of success had attended his endeavors. That contented him, and he did not care who had the praise and the rewards, so that he had done the work. In point of fact. Governor Li had most of the honor. He certainly mentioned Gordon favorably in his despatches, but he did not acknowledge the truth, that it was the English- man's valor that, more than anything beside, had crushed the rebellion ; for crushed it was to all intents and puri)oses, although a k^s towns were still in the hands of the rebels. Li very naturally sought to impress his Emperor and the peo- ple of his nation with a due sense of his own exploits ; and he praised General Ching also for that which he had accom- plished. Still the truth remained that neither Li-Hung- GORDON AGAIN TAKES THE FIELD. 75 Chang nor General Ching could have done very much toward stamping out the rebellion but for the heroism of the gallant Gordon. The Emperor felt that he must be rewarded ; and accord- ingly he sent through Governor Li a medal of the highest distinction, and a present of 10,000 taels. And now the illustrious Englishman showed of what stuff he was made. He gladly accepted the money that had been sent for the assistance of his wounded men, and the reward which had been well earned by, and was forwarded for, his troops ; but for himself he would take nothing. With the true dignity of an English gentleman he returned this letter to the Emperor of China : — " Major Gordon receives the approbation of His Majesty the Emperor with every gratification, but regrets most sin- cerely that, owing to the circumstances which occurred since the capture of Soochow, he is unable to receive any mark of His Majesty the Emperor's recognition, and therefore re- spectfully begs His Majesty to receive his thanks for his in- tended kindness, and to allow him to decline the same." This must, more than a little, have astonished both the Emperor and his friends. Writing home later, Gordon said that he did not want either uTOney or honors. He had the consciousness that he had done good, and that was enough for him. The appro- bation of his own conscience, and the hope of the Master's "Well done, good and faithful servant," were, indeed, more than sufficient for Charles Gordon. '•'But — what next?" This was the question that was pressing upon him. Must he really give up the work of repressing the rebellion, although he had ever believed it to be a noble and important 76 GENERAL GORDON. one, while yet it had not been completed ? Or should he hope the best of Li-Hung-Chang, and work with him once more ? It was in accordance with Gordon's whole life and char- acter that he decided to do the latter. He came to see that even as regarded the slaughter of the Wangs there were some extenuating circumstances, which in the first heat of the occurrence he was unable to admit or to see. He had looked upon it from an English- man's point of view ; but. of course, there was the Chinese side also — and when he tried the " Put-yourself-in-his- place " plan, he saw that the deed, horrible as it must always appear to him, was not such an unmitigated crime in Chinese estimation. It was open to him to dismiss his army, but if he did, almost certainly many of them would join the ranks of the rebels ; and, perhaps, in time all that he had done would have to be done over again. That so many lives should have been sacrificed for nothing was too dreadful. It would be better that he had never led the Victorious Army to any success than that it should cease its efforts before the end had been accomplished. But could he lay aside his own personal opinions, and again work with the Futai ? Yes ; he could do that or anything else when once con- vinced that it was right. He was a Christian, and, therefore, he must not keep up any feeling of resentment. And he knew who had said, " Vengeance is Mine ; I will repay ! " His mind was soon made up ; and he communicated the result in a letter to Sir Frederick Bruce, in which he said, that seeing the danger which might arise from inaction, since his men were idle, he had arranged with the Futai to issue a proclamation, declaring that he had been in nowise to blame for the execution of the \\^angs ; and that when this was GORDON AGAIN TAKES THE FIELD. 77 done he would again take up his former position in the Ever- Victorious Army. He felt this to be the more desirable, because he knew that Burgevine intended to rejoin the rebels ; that the Futai was more willing to act with him, notwith- standing all that had occurred, than with any other British officer ; and that if he (Gordon) did not act, a less worthy man might be told off to the post. Under these circum- stances, although he confessed that it was not an easy task, he decided to go back to his post. " I am aware," he wrote, " that I am open to very grave censure for the course I am about to pursue ; but in the absence of advice, and knowing as I do that the Pekin authorities will support the Futai in what is done, I have made up my mind to run the risk. If I followed my own desire, I should leave now, as I have escaped unscathed and been wonderfully successful. But the rabble called the Quinsan force is a dangerous body, and it will be my duty to see that it is dissolved as quietly as possible, and that while in course of dissolution it should serve to benefit the Imperial Government. I do not apprehend the rebellion will last six months longer if I take the field. It may take six years if I leave, and the Government does not support the Imperialists. I propose to cut through the heart of the rebellion, and to divide it into two parts by the capture of Yesing and Liyang." He adds, " If the course I am about to pursue meets your approbation I shall be glad to hear ; but if not, shall expect to be well rebuked. However, I know that I am not actuated by personal considerations, but merely as I think will be most conducive to the interests of our Government." In the proclamation which is referred to in this letter, the Futai sought to justify himself. He declared that although his intentions were apparently at variance with those of 78 GENERAL GORDON. General Gordon, they were in reality identical ; that he acted without consulting Gordon because fresh complica- tions had arisen, which hesitation or delay might have made fatal ; that not only was no sign of contrition visible among the Wangs, but that they made demands which were in themselves the proof that they wished and intended to return to a state of rebellion when the first opportunity occurred ; and that he believed that the death of these few bandits was not only a necessity, but would have most salu- tary results. He ended by saying that General Gordon had nothing whatever to do with the matter ; but that the occur- rences which made the execution necessary happened after Gordon had left ; that he was not an eye-witness of what took place on the spot, and that he had been misled by rumors. " He was impressed with the conviction that, the terms of surrender having been agreed to, the subsequent execution of the individuals was a breach of the convention entered into ; but he was totally unaware of the pressing urgency and extreme danger of the consequences involved, which left not an instant for delay, and which led the Futai to inflict at once the penalty prescribed by military law." Whatever others may have thought of the wisdom of Gordon's decision, he had the comfort of knowing that Sir Frederick Bruce approved. " My concurrence," wrote Sir Frederick, " in the step you have taken, is founded in no small measure of my knowledge of the high motives which have guided you while in com- mand of the Chinese force, of the disinterested conduct you have observed in pecuniary questions, and of the influence in favor of humanity you exercised in rescuing Burgevine and his misguided associates from Soochow. I am aware of the perseverance with which, in the face of serious obstacles and much discouragement, you have steadily pursued the pacification of the province of Kiang-soo, in relieving it from GORDON AGAIN TAKES THE FIELD. 79 being the battlefield of the insurrection, and in restoring to its suffering inhabitants the enjoyments of their homes, and the uninterrupted exercise of their industry ; and you may console yourself with the assurance that you are rendering a service to true humanity as well as to great material interests. It would be a serious calamity, and addition to our embarrassments in China, were you compelled to leave your work incomplete, and were a sudden dissolution or dis- persion of the Chinese force to lead to the recurrence of that state of danger and anxiety from which, during the last two years, Shanghai has suffered. I approve of your not await- ing the result of the inquiry of the Futai's proceedings at Soochow, provided you take care that your efforts in favor of humanity are not in future defeated by Chinese authorities." In a subsequent letter, Sir Frederick Bruce said that he had obtained a promise from the Emperor that when foreign officers were employed by him, the customs of foreign nations should be observed ; and he reminded Gordon that if henceforth it should be impossible for the scenes of Soo- chow to be re-enacted, he (Gordon) would indeed be the protector of the Chinese. He said, too, that although the action of the Futai was abhorrent to our ideas, it was not a gross or deliberate act of treachery, if the excuses urged by Li were true. And so Gordon entered the field again ; and this time under difficulties even greater than those with which he previously had to contend. He had to win several towns from the lawless men who held them ; and he could no longer be supplied from adjacent loyal towns. He set forth on his expedition in the face of great obstacles. The weather was stormy ; snow and hail were falling when he started ; and these might have been taken as symbolic prophecies of the kind of experience that awaited him. But 80 GENERAL GORDON. he was nerved afresh with courage and endurance. He could scarcely meet with greater sorrows and troubles than those through which he had already passed ; and he still trusted in God, and was sure that He would not forsake him. Almost all his friends would rather that he had not taken the field with Li-Hung-Chang ; but he could not see how it was to be avoided, and he went forward once more to duty, and perhaps to death. A tedious march was before him and his men, from Quin- san to Woosieh, and it was made all the more irksome be- cause they had to carry their supplies with them. When they reached Woosieh they went on to Yesing, finding every- where marks of the destructive operations of the Tai-pings. A village outside Yesing was just taken ; and Yesing itself, after some little fighting, surrendered. From thence Gordon went to Tajowka, news having reached him that the rebels in the garrison wanted to surrender, but that their captain was resolved not to yield. Tajowka, with its captain, was soon brought to accept Gordon's terms. Liyang came next. The people there were in such a wretched state that they were only too glad to come out into something better. They shut one of their gates on the commandant, who would liked to have fought Gordon, and so rendered him unable to offer resistance. Kintang was the next place which Gordon attacked ; and there the brave leader of the valorous army was wounded. The fight was a very desperate one. Wherever the victo- rious army made a breach, the rebels crowded to the spot, and drove them back with stones and bricks, and anything that could be found. In the midst of the battle news came that the rebels had beaten the Imperialists at Fushan, and were besieging Chanzu ; but Gordon felt that he must go on with his attack on Kintang. GORDON AGAIN TAKES THE FIELD. 81 Suddenly there arose a cry — " The Commander is WOUNDED ! " Gordon, who had been looking white and faint, flushed with anger at this, and ordered the man to be silent. The commander remained at his post, with the blood streaming from a wound. He was urged to retire, but he would not leave until Dr. Moffit compelled him to do scr. Every one was grieved that the brave man was at last laid low. It was ascertained, however, that the wound need not be serious, if only the wounded man would keep quiet. Dr. Moffit said that everything depended upon that, and he urged him to think now more of himself than of anything beside. Sir Frederick Bruce wrote him a letter to the same effect, telling him that he must be cautious, not on account of the force, but on his own account. " I beg you," said Sir Frederick, " not to look upon your position from a military point of view ; you have done quite enough for your repu- tation as a gallant and skilful leader. We all look to you as the only person fit to act with these perverse Chinese, and to be trusted with the great interests at stake at Shanghai. Your life and ability to keep the field are more important than the capture of any city in China." These kind words must have been of great comfort to Charles Gordon. The Emperor of China, who had received a report from Li-Hung-Chang to the effect that General Gordon was wounded, issued a proclamation, in which he said he was deeply moved with grief and admiration. He ordered Li to visit Gordon every day, and keep him well informed of events, that his mind might be at rest ; and he also ordered the Governor to " request him to wait until he should be perfectly restored to health and strength before attempting anything more." CHAPTER X. THE DISBANDING OF THE EVER-VICTORIOUS ARMY. " Of all said yet, may'st thou prove prosperous. Of all said yet, I wish thee happiness." — Pericles. FORTUNATELY Gordon's wound was not a very serious one, but he could not spare himself time to be sufficiently recovered before he was again in action. News came that the Faithful King was back in Fushan, and Gordon felt that he must at once start for Woosieh. He left the principal part of his men at Kintang, and took to assist him a number of the rebels who had but lately joined his forces. Chung Wang's son was now leading an army of Tai-pings, and Gordon reached a position from which he could cut off his retreat. He found everywhere awful proofs of the devastation and misery caused by the rebels. It is sicken- ing to read of burnt villages, and starving people, so reduced that they actually ate each other. There may have been some good even in the rebels, but they certainly wrought immense havoc among the poor people of the province. They left the inhabitants of the villages through which they passed to die of starvation. Gordon's march was, as usual, rapid and decisive. He DISBANDING OF THE ARMY. 83 took very little time to do that which he attempted. But even the Ever- Victorious Army was sometimes defeated. On the 31st of March some of his officers and men, who were travelling by land without their leader — Gordon hav- ing taken part of his force by water — were surprised by an immense host of Tai-pings. The Liyangs were panic-stricken and overwhelmed, and compelled to flee before the rebels ; losing four hundred men — three captains among them. \\'hen Gordon arrived he was compelled to retreat, and great confusion prevailed. Gordon was obliged to make up his numbers and get his troops into working condition ; and when this was done, he was supported by Li-Hung-Chang and a large body of Imperialists. The Governor told him that his colleague, General Ching, was shot. When Gordon heard the news he forgot how frequently Ching had annoyed and thwarted him, and remembered only his good qualities. The two had been comrades in many a terrible undertaking ; and gener- ally Ching had seconded Gordon's endeavors with all possi- ble courage. He may have been jealous of the foreigner, who, at the head of the Ever- Victorious Army, had become so illustrious and influential ; but under all, there had been so much that was noble in the man that Gordon could only receive the tidings of his death, as Wilson says he did, with tears of real sorrow and regret. Gordon's next step was to advance on Waissoo, He was well assisted by the Imperial troops, who were placed in such positions as would enable them to prevent the retreat of the rebels, and to make simultaneous attacks. He employed considerable strategy at Waissoo, and his manoeuvre was completely successful. The rebels endeavored to get away by the bridges which had been broken, and hosts of them were slain. The villagers, urged by revenge for the cruelties 84 GENERAL GORDON. that had been practised upon them by the Tai-pings, who had stolen their property and burnt their homes, turned out in pursuing crowds to chase their enemies to destruction. Chanchu-fu was the next city to fall, and it was not taken without considerable difiQculty. It had been for some time unsuccessfully besieged by the Imperialists ; but the place was full of rebels of the most determined character, and they were bent on holding it, if possible, at any cost. Gordon proposed at once to invest the city ; and while this was being done he had another remarkable escape. Wilson says, that perhaps some of the men wished to dis- cover whether Gordon had really a charmed life. A battery was being constructed by some men of the Imperialist army, a strong picket supporting them, and a covering party being stationed in the rear. Gordon and Major Tapp were super- intending, when suddenly the pickets fired into the battery. The Tai-pings at the same time fired into the battery also ; and Gordon and his helpers found themselves fired upon on all hands, not only by the rebels but by the Imperiahsts. It is a wonder that all were not killed. Several men were ; and among them Major Tapp, a brave and energetic man, whose life could ill be spared. There were several ineffectual attempts to conquer the rebels in Chanchu-fu before it was accomplished. First, Li- Hung-Chang tried to take the city with his own soldiers, with very disastrous results. Next, Li asked Gordon to make the attempt, assisted by the Imperialists ; but when the time came the Imperialists were not there, and Gordon and his men, fighting alone, had to retreat. Then a united move- ment was agreed upon ; but the rebels were so numerous, and so persistent, that although many were killed, the num- ber did not appear to grow less. In this engagement the officers led the way, but the men refused to follow. Ten DISBANDING OF THE ARMY. 85 officers were killed, and nineteen wounded, when the retreat was called. After that another plan was adopted. Gordon gave the Mandarins some lessons in trench-making ; and Li-Hung- Chang had proclamations posted on all the walls to the effect that pardon would be granted to all in the besieged city who came out of it. Hu Wang, or " Cock-Eye," said he would behead any who attempted to escape, and did kill some as an example ; but the rebels, encouraged by the promise made to them by the Imperialists, escaped in very large numbers. A letter is said to have been written by some of the chiefs, proposing a plan by which they should treacher- ously give up the city, without appearing to do so. But Chanchu-fu was wrested from the rebels by assault. Gover- nor Li led the Imperialists ; his artillery broke down the city walls, and the generals gained the ramparts. But the Tai- pings were stubborn, and fought in terrible desperation. At one time it seemed that the rebels would again be success- ful ; but just as the Imperialists began to waver, Gordon came forward with one of his regiments and a little band of enthusiastic volunteers, and led his storming party into the city, and all was over with the rebels. Hu Wang was very loth to acknowledge himself beaten, but fought to the last, and refused altogether to submit to Governor Li. He said that the Futai and all his hosts would not have been able to conquer him but for Gordon. He and four other Wangs were executed. " I think if I am spared I shall be home by Christmas." So wrote the brave leader of the Ever- Victorious Army on the day before the final taking of Chanchu-fu. And he added, " I do not care one jot about my promotion or what people may say. I know I shall leave China as poor as I entered it, but with the knowledge that through my weak 86 GENERAL GORDON. instrumentality upwards of eighty to one hundred thousand lives have been spared." It was a good thing for himself and his work that the brave leader of the Ever- Victorious Army did not care what people said, for at that time all sorts of false stories were in circulation in England. News came that forty thousand rebels had been massacred by the Allies, and there was naturally great indignation. Mr. Wilson shows that instead of forty thousand there were just nine individuals executed, each one of whom richly deserved his fate ; but the feeling in England was so strong that the Government felt com- pelled to take action. There were very grave and heated discussions in the Houses of Parliament, many people being assured that the reports were true, and many being quite as sure that they were false. The supporters of the Government had faith in Bruce and Gordon, while the opponents of the Government, of course, blamed them for everything, and believed the worst. At last the British Government, early in 1864, revoked the order in Council which permitted Gor- don to serve the Chinese Government. But, fortunately, his work was just finished when the order reached him. The rebellion was, to all intents and pur- poses, stamped out ; and the time had come (at least Gor- don thought so, and General Li agreed with him) when the right thing to do was to disband the Ever- Victorious Army. The English merchants at Shanghai did not think so, and were in a state of great alarm. But Gordon considered that there would be less danger in disbanding it than in permitting it to remain in existence. Certainly the army recjuired a strong and wise leader to keep it under control. No one could be sure that the men, left to themselves, would not turn round again and fight with the rebels as many of them had done before. Burgevine might come DISBANDING OF THE ARMY. 87 back, or anything else might happen. The men would assuredly be better at home. Accordingly Gordon returned to Quinsan, and from the 1 6th of May to the ist of June he was occupied sending off the men. He returned all arms to the Government, and then proceeded to pay his soldiers. He asked no reward for himself; but for his officers and men he asked for very considerable sums. And this time he got what he wanted. He was able to give to the men who had served him and risked their lives at his side, not only generous words of well-won praise, but something much more substantial. The Chinese Government had come to see that Gordon knew best what was right, and they wil- lingly handed over to him the large sums that he requested. They also sent a present to himself which would have made him rich, but this again he declined. It was a real joy to him to present his officers with a sum that more than satis- fied them, and to give to his men enough to enable them to make another start in life. There was, some time afterwards, a letter published in the Times, bearing the signature " Mandarin," which, having been written by one who fought in the campaign, and there- fore knew all about Gordon, and the spirit and character which he manifested, is very full of interest. It is repro- duced in Mr. Edmund Hake's book, and cannot be printed too frequently : — " It is really surprising how scanty a knowledge English people have of the wonderful feats performed, not many years since, by an officer whose name has lately been rather prominently mentioned — Colonel, or Chinese Gordon. Having ser\'ed under him during the most eventful period of his command of the Ever- Victorious Army — an epithet, you may be sure, not given by himself — I might fill many 88 GENERAL GORDON. of your columns with traits of General Gordon's amazing activity and wonderful foresight, his indomitable energy and quiet, unassuming modesty, his perseverance, kindness, cool courage, and even heroism. My individual opinion may not be worth much, but is it not notorious that any man who has ever served under or with General (as you must allow me to style him) Gordon is an enthusiastic believer in his military genius and capacity? There are not many commanders of whom the subordinates would speak with such unanimous praise. What is, perhaps, most striking in Gordon's career in China, is the entire devotion with which the native soldiery served him, and the implicit faith they had in the result of operations in which he was personally present. In their eyes General Gordon was literally a magi- cian, to whom all things were possible. They believed him to bear a charmed life ; and a short stick or rattan cane which he invariably carried about, and with which he always pointed in directing the fire of artillery or other operations, was firmly looked on as a wand or talisman. These things have been repeated to me again and again by my own men, and I know they were accepted all over the contingent. These notions, especially the men's idea that their General had a charmed existence, were substantially aided by Gor- don's constant habit, when the troops were under fire, of appearing suddenly, usually unattended, and calmly standing in the very hottest part of the fire. " Besides his favorite cane, he carried nothing except field-glasses — never a sword or revolver ; or rather, if the latter, it was carried unostentatiously and out of sight ; and nothing could exceed the contrast between General Gordon's quiet undress uniform, without sword-belts or buckles, and apparently no weapon but a two-foot rod, and the buccaneering, brigand-like costume of the American officers, striped, armed, and booted like theatrical banditti. DISBANDING OF THE ARMY. 89 " I only know one occasion on which General Gordon drew a revolver. The contingent had been l}dng idle in Quinsan for three months of the summer without taking the field. This time had been employed in drilling the men, and in laying in large stores of war material, preparatory to the approaching attack on Soochow. The heat all this time was fearfully oppressive ; dysentery and cholera had carried off many men and officers, and drill tov.-ards the end of the term was somewhat relaxed. This in some measure affected the discipline of the men,' and, indeed, of their officers also. But the chief cause of the deteriorated discipline was perhaps to be found in another direction. On the march and in the field the men were unable to obtain opium — the officers but slender stores of liquor; in garrison, on the contrary, they could indulge to the full extent of their monthly pay. " But whatever the causes, it is certain that when, towards September, orders to prepare for an expedition against strong forts and stockades barring the way by canal from Quinsan to Soochow were issued, the discipline of the troops was greatly inferior to what it had been three months earlier. The artiller}', in particular, showed decided insubordination. One company of it refused to embark in the barges which were to take it up the canal, the men declining to take the field before the approaching pay-day. The officers managed to make the men ' fall in,' but from the parade ground they refused to mo\e, although the luggage was already on board the boats, lying fifty yards off. At this juncture General Gordon, who had been apprised by messengers of the state of affairs, arrived on the spot with his interpreter. He was on foot, in undress, apparently unarmed, and, as usual, ex- ceedingly cool, quiet, and undemonstrative. *' Directly he approached the company, he ordered his in- 90 GENERAL GORDON. terpreter to direct every man who refused to embark to step to the front. One man only advanced. General Gordon drew his revolver from an inside breast-pocket, presented it at the soldier's head, and desired the interpreter to direct the man to march straight to the barge and embark. The order was immediately complied with, and then General Gordon giving the necessary words of command, the company followed without hesitation or demur. It may be said that any other determined officer might have done likewise, and with the same results. Not so. It was generally allowed by the officers, when the event became known, that the success in this instance was solely due to the awe and respect in which General Gordon was held by the men ; and that such was the spirit of the troops at the time, that had any other but he attempted what he did, the company would have broken into open mutiny, shot their officers, and committed the wildest excesses. " In less than a week the spirit of the troops was as excel- lent as before, and gradually the whole garrison joined in a series of movements which culminated in the fall of Soochow. " Gonsidering the materials Gordon had to work with, the admirable state of discipline and military efficiency which his contingent eventually attained is really amazing. He certainly had a few first-rate officers — rough and ready ones, no doubt — perhaps half-a-dozen altogether, of which General Kirkham, at present in Abyssinia, was one ; but as for the remainder, or the great majority of the remainder, I scarcely like to use the epithets which would l)e most applicable to them. This I remember, during the month of July when the corps was in Quinsan, out of a hundred and thirty or a hundred and forty officers, eleven died of deliriu77i tremens. There was no picking or choosing ; the General was glad to get any foreigners to fill up vacancies, and the result, espe- DISBANDING OF THE ARMY. 91 cially in garrison, was deplorable. They fought well, and led their men well, however ; and that, after all, was the chief requisite. " Well, notwithstanding such drawbacks, every regiment could go through the manual, and platoon, and bayonet exercises to English words of command, with a smartness and precision to which not many volunteer companies can attain ; could manoeuvre very fairly in companies or as a battalion ; and each regiment had been put through a regular com-se of musketry instruction, every man firing his ninety rounds at the regular distances, up to three hundred yards, the scores and returns being satisfactorily kept, and the good shots rewarded. " It was a most fortunate thing for General Gordon that, a few years before he accepted the Chinese command, he had been employed in surveying and mapping precisely that portion of the country in which his future operations were carried on. This part of China is a vast network of canals and tow-paths ; there are absolutely no roads, wheeled vehicles are never used, and the bridges still remaining were scarce and precarious. It was an immense advantage to know what canals were still navigable, which choked with weeds, and what bridges were left standing ; where the ground would be likely to bear artillery, and where it was impassable swamp. Gordon knew every feature of the country better than any other person, native or foreigner — far better even than the rebels who had overrun it, and been in partial possession for years. " But even these advantages would go but a short way towards accounting for the complete and thorough success which marked Gordon's career, where his predecessors had gained merely temporary advantages, fruitless toward secur- ing the main object in view — the expulsion of the enemy 92 GENERAL GORDON. from the province. The reasons for Gordon's great suc- cesses, for his unparalleled feat, must be sought for elsewhere ; and they are, without doubt, firstly, his military genius, and secondly, his character and qualities, which were such as to cause all brought in contact or serving under him to have unbounded faith in his capacity, and to feel firmly that the best means at his disposal would be used to the best purpose. "To persons who know General Gordon — his unassuming ways, and quiet, retiring manners — it speaks volumes that the ignorant men and rowdy officers composing his contin- gent should have looked on him in the light they did, and in the manner I have attempted to describe. " That a swaggering, ostentatious, dashing, and successful general should be looked up to by such men would be natural enough. If one were to draw inferences, one might, perhaps, say the ignorant Chinamen were better judges than certain well-educated folk nearer home." Mr. Hake says that there is one mistake in this apprecia- tive letter, and that Gordon had not the advantage of a pre- vious knowledge of the district in which his exploits were done. Gordon had disbanded his army, but he had not therefore ceased to feel an interest in China. He went to Nanking, and visited Tseng Kuo-fau there, and also the Governor of the province of Chekiang, the commander of the troops at Nanking, and conferred with them as to the best means of completing the work. Gordon thoroughly examined the defences and the works, and thought the place would be easy to capture. He advised the introduction of some changes into the Imperial army, such as instructing the natives in the use of other arms than their own, of paying the men regularly, and of augmenting the army. DISBANDING OF THE ARMY. 93 He soon after wrote a letter, which proved that with his usual insight he had quite understood the Chinese nature. He said it was no use to drive them even into a course of action that would be for their good ; and that the only way to manage them successfully was to lead them, and not offend their prejudices. In what esteem our hero was held by the Chinese was proved in many ways. When he went to Li-Hung-Chang to take leave of him, the Futai showed him every respect and honor. The more he had knowTi of Gordon, the more profoundly had he been impressed by his perfect blamelessness of life and his great ability. He had misjudged him sometimes ; but the two men, now altogether reconciled, and each admiring the other, did not scruple to unsay what they had said before, and give every expression to their cordial sympathies toward each other. Gordon did not care for honors, but plenty were showered upon him. He received several titles. He was made a " Ti-tu," which gave him the highest rank in the Chinese army ; and the Emperor himself commanded that he should be rewarded with " a yellow riding jacket, to be worn on his person, and a peacock's feather, to be carried on his cap ; also, that there be bestowed on him four suits of the uniform proper to his rank of Ti-tu, in token of our favor and desire to do him honor." These were very grand presents — indeed, the greatest that China could bestow — and although Gordon refused to take the emperor's money, he did not refuse these honors. He wrote to his mother in his own affectionate way, " I do not care twopence about these things, but know that you and my father like them." The Emperor wished the British Minister to bring before the notice of Her Majesty the 94 GENERAL GORDON. Queen of England his appreciation of the splendid services, which Gordon had rendered. He hoped that he would be rewarded in England as well as in China for his heroic achievements. A subsequent letter in the Times said that Prince Kung, who was then the Regent of China, had waited upon Sir Frederick Bruce, and said to him, — "You will be astonished to see me again, but I felt I could not allow you to leave without coming to see you about Gordon. We do not know what to do. He will not receive money from us, and we have already given him every honor which it is in the power of the Emperor to bestow ; but as these can be of little value in his eyes, I have brought you this letter, and ask you to give it to the Queen of England, that she may bestow on him some reward which would be more valuable in his eyes." Sir Frederick Bruce sent this to London with a letter of his own : — " I enclose translation of dispatch from Prince Kung, con- taining the decree published by the Emperor, acknowledg- ing the services of Lieutenant-Colonel Gordon, Royal Engin- eers, and requesting that Her Majesty's Government be pleased to recognize him. This step has been spontaneously taken. " Lieutenant-Colonel Gordon well deserves Her Majesty's favor, for, inde})endently of the skill and courage he has shown, his disinterestedness has elevated our national charac- ter in the eyes of the Chinese. Not only has he refused any pecuniary reward, but he has spent more than his pay in con- tributing to the comfort of the officers who served under him, and in assuaging the distress of the starving population whom he relieved from the yoke of their oppressors. Indeed, the feeling that impelled him to resume operations after the fall of Soochow was one of the purest humanity. He sought to DISBANDING OF THE ARMY. 95 save the people of the districts that had been recovered from a repetition of the misery entailed upon them by this cruel civil war." It does not seem, however, that anyone mentioned the affair to the Queen, or that any particular notice was taken by the Government of the heroic deeds of the Englishman, of whom any land must have been proud ; and it was a good thing, therefore, that the heart of the Christian soldier was not set upon either fame or reward. He did receive what he must have valued very highly, an engrossed and illuminated address from the merchants of Shanghai, who expressed in very generous terms their respect and admiration. To this Gordon wrote in reply : — "Shanghai, 25th November, 1864. " Gentlemen : I have the honor to acknowledge the re- ceipt of your handsome letter of this day's date, and to ex- press to you the great satisfaction which I feel at the honor- able mention you have made therein of my services in China. " It will always be a matter of gratification to me to have received your approval ; and deeply impressed with the honor you have paid me — I have the honor to be, Gentlemen, yours obediently, " C. G. Gordon." CHAPTER XL THE COLLAPSE OF THE REBELLION. "The guilt of conscience take thee for thy labor, But neither my good word, nor princely favor; With Cain go wander through the shade of night, And never show thy head by day nor light." — Richard II. " '"T^PIE back of the rebellion had been broken ;" indeed \. the rebellion itself was all but dead. There still re- mained Nanking, the royal city of the rebels, now in desola- tion, but striving to hold its own against starvation and all other foes. The Rev. Joseph Edkins, of the London Mis- sionary Society, visited the city about this time, and thus de- scribes what he saw : — " Where the porcelain tower once stood, there is now a mass of glazed bricks, whole and bro- ken, white and colored. The Tai-ping people, had they the power, wouhl destroy all the idol temples and pagodas in China. Their religious fanaticism is too essential a part of the movement to allow of any change in this point. Nan- king was famed for the grandeur of its monasteries and the number of its priests. They have all disappeared. " Hung-sien-tsiuen lives within a double wall, with imperial dragons painted on the gates. Every morning a few scribes may be seen copying new edicts, written on yellow satin, and THE COLLAPSE OE THE REBELLION. 97 pasted on boards near the palace entrance. They are in red ink, in the chiefs own handwriting, and consist in great part of statements on the subject of the Tai-ping religion. In some I read he attempted to deprive the relation of our Sav- iour to the Father in regard to his divine nature, and in do- ing so expressed Arian views. The door of the palace is called ' The holy heavenly gate of the true God.' " A walk in the Manchu city helped us to appreciate the intense hatred of the Tartar rulers felt by the Tai-pings. Only one house was left standing in a city of 25,000 inhab- itants. The city walls and gates, too massive to be thrown down, are overgrown with wild flowers and weeds. All ornamental structures of colored bricks, which once stood upon them, have been carefully destroyed. Broken bricks and porcelain of many colors lie along the wall and near it. " The great river Yang-tse-kiang sweeps past Nanking to the northeast. A fine range of hills appears on the north side. One of their summits has on it a pagoda, seen from Nanking. We asked the Tai-pings why that edifice was not, like others of the kind, destroyed. ' We have not yet found time for such a thing,' was the reply. On the Nanking shore two hills frown at one another. One of them is the ' Purple Forbidden Hill,' on the southern slopes of which are the tombs of the founder of the Ming dynasty and his father. The other hill is inside the walls, and has been included with- in the palaces of ancient emperors, when Nanking was the temporary capital. It is now used as a site for a high look- out by the rebels. Beyond it and the north wall are batter- ies placed on the riverside." Mr. Edkins came out of his experience in Nanking un- harmed by the rebels ; but another missionary, an American, the Rev. J. L. Holmes — whose letter, taken from the North China Herald, and giving an account of his visit, is inserted 98 GENERAL GORDON. in an earlier part of the present volume — was cruelly mur- dered by the Tai-pings in 1861, the year after his visit to them. He had written other letters which offended the reb- els ; and especially one which he intended the chief to see, but which fell, instead, into the hands of his subordinates, containing grave and direct charges against the opinions and practices of the Tai-pings. One life more or less was of very little consequence to the rebels ; and Mr. Holmes, near Che- foo, fell a sacrifice to the prey of a party of the rebels who were called Nien-fei. Things became worse and worse with the Tai-pings who were shut up in Nanking. It was estimated that the Faith- ful King lost no less than 100,000 men from the attacks of a foe, who worked surely but silently among them, and whose name was Starvation. They died because their commander had no rations to give them. But the Faithful King was very tme to his name, and altogether worthy of it. He would not yield until the city was completely invested, and there was positively no hope. At last the Imperialists entered Nanking — to find that the Faithful King had set fire to it, and that the whole place was in desolation. Grass was growing in thj streets, and nearly the whole city was in ruins. Hung-sien- tsiuen, the originator of the trouble, did not remain to suffer the penalty of his misdoings from others. He endeavored to maintain some dignity to the end, and would not allow it to be thought by any that he was afraid. When the worst had come to the worst, he killed himself to prevent any unholy hands from slaying him. The Faithful King and other Wangs were arrested, and sentenced to be executed. He spent the time that remained to him in writing an autobiography, which had some merit as a literary production, and was especially designed to show strong and sufficient reasons why he — the Faithful King — THE COLLAPSE OF THE REBELLLON. 99 should not be put to death. But they were not strong enough to convince the Imperialists, and he shared the fate of the other rebels. It was, perhaps, necessary that he should die ; but no one can read the story of the Faithful King, as told by Mr. Wilson in his Ever- Victorious Army, without feeling that there was a considerable amount of nobility and even heroism in the xaSxx. Indeed, looking at the Tai-pings and their doctrines as a whole, it is impossible not to see that, especially at first, they were certainly not all bad. They set their faces against a great many of the corrupt practices of the Chinese. They endeavored to abolish opium- smoking. They would not countenance the slave-trade. They denounced the use of torture and bribing in courts of justice, and the tail-wearing slave-badge of the men. They commanded that the feet of the women should not be crippled by tight shoes, but should be allowed to grow to the natural size. They disregarded the Chinese idea of lucky and unlucky days. They instituted literary examinations, though the parade of Christianity, and the requirements of the adherence of the students to obey the doctrines of Hung in connection with these examinations, pre- vented them from doing much good. The theme was " Unit- ing to elevate the Heavenly Father and Heavenly Brother to the Headship over all duty and morality." The publications of Hung-sien-tsiuen were used as reading-books among the rebels and their families ; but they all insisted upon one cen- tral assertion — that Hung himself was divinely appointed to be the head of the world, which should be regenerated through his instrumentality, and become under his reign " the heav- enly kingdom of great peace" (Tai-ping-tien-kno). He demanded from all his followers faith in him as a sort of Mes- siah, second only to Christ. This will be seen from a com- munication made in a letter from the chief himself to an 100 GENERAL GORDON. American missionary, Mr. Roberts : — " Add to your faith. Do not suppose that I am deceived. I am the one saviour of the chosen people. Why do you feel uncertain of the fact of divine communications to me? When Joshua formerly destroyed the enemies of God the sun and moon stood still. When Abraham sat under the oak three men stood by him. Carefully think of all this. Do you become conscious of it? Do you believe ? I am grieved at heart, having written very many edicts on these matters, and all men being with me as one family. When Kan Wang came to the capital, he also had a revelation. To recognize these divine communications is better than being baptized a thousand times. Blessed are they that watch. Your Father, your Lord, comes to you as a thief, and at a time when you know not. He that believeth shall be saved. You will see greater things than these. Re- spect this." " Respect this " is always the conclusion to an emperor's edict ; and so Hung used it, to give his letter more effect. It will have been seen throughout that the religion which Hung professed and taught had some Christianity in it, though it was rather a caricature than otherwise. Still, at first many hoped that the rebels might bring about a change for the better ; and perhaps if the Heavenly King had found an em- pire of willing subjects, and had met with no resistance, it might have been so. Certainly he talked of many improve- ments which he intended to introduce, such as gas-lighting, railroads, telegraphs, and a higher system of education. But since he was not at once acknowledged, and had to take his armies into unwilling villages and towns, he had to plunder the people in order to provide for liis men ; and this, of course, greatly incensed them, and turned them into enemies. The consequence was that every year the rebels became more lawless, until at last it seemed that there was no right feeling THE COLLAPSE OF THE REBELLION. 101 among them ; and their cruelties became so great that Gordon, humane as lie was, felt that they ought to be extirpated. When he began his work, whole regions, rich in silk and tea, were overrun by hordes of Tai-pings. His force, as we have seen, was altogether disorganized. The men were ready to fight, and, indeed, were eager to be engaged ; but they did not care very much with whom, or on which side. In the army there was no discipline ; and he found no supplies ready to his hand. There were no regular roads by which he could take his men where they were needed ; and difficulties of all kinds surrounded him. He was very much alone in the burden of responsibility that was laid upon him ; for he could not be sure of sympathy or help from England, or even from China. But of one thing he could and did feel sure — namely, that the cause in which he was engaged was one of righteous- ness and mercy, and that God was on his side \ and this con- viction kept him brave and patient through all. And he never forgot whose servant he was. He was in himself an illustration of the truth that the Christian is the highest type of man. Because he ser\'ed God he served his fellows also. '" In a position of unequalled difficulty," said the address presented to him by the Shanghai merchants, "and sur- rounded by complications of every possible nature, you have succeeded in offering to the eyes of the Chinese nation, no less by your loyal and throughout disinterested line of action, than by your conspicuous gallantry and talent for organization and command, the example of a foreign officer serving the Government of this country with honorable fidelity and unde- viating self-respect." His name, which will ever be revered in China, began to be known and honored in England also. In the Times of 5th August, 1S64, was a leading article showing great and just appreciation of our noble country- man : — 102 GENERAL GORDON. " Never did soldier of fortune deport himself with a nicer sense of military honor, with more gallantry against the resist- ing, with more mercy toward the vanquished, with more dis- interested neglect of opportunities of personal advantage, or with more entire devotion to the objects and desires of his own Government, than this officer, who, after all his victories, has just laid down his sword. A history of operations among cities of uncouth names, and in provinces, the geography of which is unknown except to special students, would be tedious and uninstructive. The result of Colonel Gordon's operations, however, is this : He found the richest and most fertile dis- tricts of China in the hands of the most savage brigands. The silk districts were the scenes of their cruelty and riot, and the great historical cities of Hangchow and Soochow were rapidly following the fate of Nanking, and were becoming desolate ruins in their possession. Gordon has cut the rebellion in half, has recovered the great cities, has isolated and utterly discouraged the fragments of the brigand power, and has left the marauders nothing but a few tracts of devastated country and their stronghold of Nanking. All this he has effected, first by the power of his arms, and afterward, still more rap- idly, by the terror of his name." Gordon had not left China when Nanking was subdued. At that time almost nothing remained of the rebels. Gor- don had fought in no lesis than twenty-three battles, and had met with not quite but almost invariable success. Event- ually, on the 1 6th April, 1865, eight thousand Government troops caused the rebels to evacuate Hangchow and retreat towards Timgshan. They were pursued and surrounded on all hands, until the little remnant of the great host fleeing to the mountains, broke up and got lost. Thus ended the rebellion of the Tai-pings. Some lasting good has no doubt resulted for China. Mr. THE COLLAPSE OF THE REBELLLO.V. 103 Andrew Wilson shows the good effect of introducing Euro- pean medical arrangements into the Ever- Victorious Army ; and he has published in his book some very interesting statistics respecting the grand work which Mr. Moftit was able to do among the wounded and diseased. Before that time the Chinese knew very little of surgery. It was found that fevers were most fatal, and that diarrhoea was very common, especially in the hot season, and among those who indulged themselves in opium-smoking. The Chinese have almost no taste for alcohol ; and they can live quite comfort- ably on a simple diet of rice, vegetables, and fish. Gordon's work in China has been the means of awaken- ing considerable interest in the country, hitherto so little known ; and the last few years have seen many books pro- duced upon the subject. What China now wants is thus summed up in a little book entitled. The Foreigner in Far Cathay, by Mr. W. H. Medhurst, H.B.M. Consul at Shanghai : — '"' Let the commercial enterprise of the people be taken advantage of to introduce the thin end of the wedge of progress whenever the opportunity offers itself; let knowledge be sown broadcast throughout the land by means of suitable and instructive publications in the native lan- guage ; and let foreign powers combine to treat China justly, and at the same time see to it that she acts justly by them, and not only will progress be possible, but no long time need elapse before a regeneration ensues, which shall at once satisfy the longings of the diplomatist, the merchant, and the missionary." This book bears the date 1872 ; and a pamphlet reprinted from The Phoenix — A IVeek in Nanking, by the Rev. Thomas Bryson, of the London Missionary Society, Wuc- hang, China, of the same date, describes Nanking as it was then : — 104 GENERAL GORDON. " One feature of the prospect, both outside and inside the walls, was very conspicuous — viz. the absence of trees. This, and the presence of ruins in all directions, especially in the less inhabited portions of the city, and when seen after the sun had set, gave a weird, desolate character to the place. In some marshy places one had also to be careful how he walked, lest he should get a fall into a ditch. Usually at these dangerous points we found a septangular stone pillar, with a figure of Buddha carved on each face, and an invocation cut down the side. These are piously set up as a kind of talisman, to ward off the unseen evil spirits who are supposed to infest such roads, and attack the un- wary traveller. " The want of trees is attributable to the possession of the place by hostile armies for so many years during the late rebellion. There were other vestiges of the horrors of that siege to be seen besides these. We came across a plot of ground literally crammed with grave-mounds, and found many officers and men living in tents close by with a num- ber of newly-made coffins at hand. They were engaged in exhuming the bones and dead bodies, to be carried out and re-interred in a cemetery without the walls. It is well known that the rebels were reduced to awful extremity before the city fell. They were falling thick of star\'ation. Individuals used to be dropped over the walls at night to dig up every root they could find. And such was the slaughter at the taking of the city that the streets literally swam with blood, and heaps upon hca])s of dead had to be hurriedly buried within the walls." Nanking, however, the city bcautiiul for situation, is be- coming more beautiful every year as it recovers from its sorrows of twenty-five years ago. The streets are wider than those of any other city in China, the shops and houses THE COLLAPSE OF THE REBELLION. 105 are rebuilt, and business and pleasure fill the place once so desolate. The Imperial Satin Manufactory is carrying on its work, and a stranger arriving for the first time would not, unless he knew its history, dream that Nanking had passed through such an awful experience. General Gordon has been to China once since all this happened. He went at the request of his old colleague, Li-Hung-Chang. Some time afterward his counsel in regard to China appeared in the form of a letter, or proclamation, said to be addressed to Li-Hung-Chang, and which was published in the C/ii/ia Mail. It is an exceedingly charac- teristic letter, and is important, because it treats of the military strength of China, and how that strength may be developed, and also because, as the China Alail remarks, " the writer's simple honesty comes straight from the heart, and he is entirely unencumbered by anything outside of his inborn convictions." The following is the memoranda : — " China possesses a long-used military organization, a regular military discipline. Leave it intact. It is suited to her people. " China, in her numbers, has the advantage over other powers. Her people are inured to hardships. Armed with breech-loaders, accustomed to the use and care of breech- loaders, and no more is needed for her infantry. " Breech-loaders ought to be bought on some system, and the same general system made applicable to the whole nation. It is not advisable to manufacture them, though means of repair should be established at certain centres. Breech-loading ammunition should be manufactured at dif- ferent centres. Breech-loaders of various patterns should not be bought, though no objection could be offered to a different breech-loader in, say, four provinces, from that 106 GENERAL GORDON. used in another group of four provinces. Any breech- loaders which will carry well up to a thousand yards will be sufficient. It is not advisable to spend money on the superior breech-loaders, carrying further. Ten breech- loaders carrying up to one thousand yards could be bought for the same money as five breech-loaders of a superior class, carrying to one thousand five hundred yards. For the Chinese it would cost more time to teach the use of the longer-range rifle than it is worth, and then, probabl}^, if called to use it, in confusion the scholar would forget his lesson. This is known to be the case. Therefore buy ordi- nary breech-loading rifles of a thousand yards' range, of simple construction, of solid form. Do not go into pur- chasing a very light, delicately-made rifle. A Chinese sol- dier does not mind one or two pounds more Aveight, for he carries no knapsack or kit. " China's power is in her numbers, in the quick moving of her troops, in the little baggage they require, in their few wants. It is known that men armed with swords and spears can overcome the best regular troops ; if armed with the best breech-loading rifles and well instructed in every way, if the country is at all difficult, and if the men with the spears and swords outnumber their foe ten to one. If this is the case when men are armed with spears and swords, it will be much truer when the same are armed with ordinary breech-loaders. " China should never engage in pitched battles. Her strength is in quick movements, in cutting off the trains or baggage in night attacks not pushed home ; in a continuous worrying of her enemies. " Rockets should be used instead of cannon ; no artillery should be moved with the troops. It delays and impedes them. Infantry fire is the most fatal fire. Guns make a THE COLLAPSE OF THE REBELLION. 107 noise far out of proportion to their \alue in war. If guns are taken into the field, troops cannot march faster than those guns. The degree of speed at which the guns can be carried along dictates the speed at which the troops can march. Therefore very few guns, if any, ought to be taken ; and those few should be smooth bored, large bore breech- loaders, consisting of four parts, to be screwed together when needed for use. " Chinese accustomed to make forts of earth ought to continue this, and study the use of trenches for the attack of cities. " China should never attack forts. She ought to wait and starve her foes out, and worry them night and day. " China should have a it'^N small bored, very long range wall-pieces, ritled and breech-loaders. They are light to carry, and if placed a long way off, will be safe from attack. If the enemy comes out to take them, the Chinese can run away ; and if the enemy takes one or two, it is no loss. Firing them in the enemy's camps a long way off would prevent the enemy sleeping ; and if he does not sleep, then he gets ill, and goes into hospital, and then needs other enemies to take care of him, and thus the enemy's numbers are reduced. " ^^^^en an enemy comes up and breaks the wall of a city, the Chinese soldiers ought not to stay and fight the enemy, but to go out and attack the trains of baggage in the rear, and worry him in the roads he came by. By keeping the Chinese troops lightly loaded with baggage, with no guns, they can move two to every one // the enemy marches. To-day the Chinese will be before him ; to-morrow they will be behind him ; the next day they will be on his left hand, and so on, till the enemy gets tired and cross with such long walks, and his soldiers quarrel with their officers and get sick. 108 GENERAL GORDON. " The Chinese should make telegraphs in the country, as a rule, to keep the country quiet and free from false rumors • but with the Chinese soldiers in the field they should use sun signals by means of the heliograph. These are very easy, and can do no harm. For this purpose a small school should be made in each centre, " The Chinese ought not to try torpedoes, which are very difficult to manage. The most simple torpedoes are the best and the cheapest, and their utility is in having many of them. China can risk sowing them thickly, for if one of them does go astray and sink a Chinese junk, the people of the junk ought to be glad to die for their country. If tor- pedoes are only used at certain places, then the enemy knows that he has to look out when near those places, but when every place may have torpedoes, he can never feel safe ; he is always anxious ; he cannot sleep ; he gets ill and dies. The fact of an enemy living in constant dread of being blown up is much more advantageous to China than if she blew up one of her enemies, for anxiety makes people ill and cross. Therefore China ought to have cheap, simple torpedoes which cannot go out of order, which are fired by a fuze, 710^ by electricity, and plenty of them. She ought not to buy expensive, complicated torpedoes. " China should buy no more big gims to defend her sea-coast. They cost money. They are a great deal of trouble to keep in order, and the enemy's ships have too thick sides for any gun China can buy to penetrate them. " China ought to defend her sea-coast by very heavy mortars. They cost very little. They are easy to use. They only want a thick parapet in front, and they are fired from a place the enemy cannot see, whereas the enemy can see the holes from which gims are fired. " The enemy cannot get safe from a mortar shot. It falls THE COLLAPSE OF THE REBELLION. 109 on the deck, and there it breaks everything. China can get one hundred mortars for the same money she gets one 1 8-ton gmi for. If China loses them the loss is little. " No enemy could get into a fort which is defended by 1500 large mortars and plenty of torpedoes, which must be very simple. " Steam-launches, with a torpedo on a pole, furnish the best form of movable torpedo. '•' For the Chinese fleet, small, quick vessels, with very little draught of water, and not any great weight of armor, are best. If China buys big vessels they cost a great deal, and all her eggs are in one basket — namely, she loses all her money at once. For the money of one large vessel Chma would get twelve small vessels. China's strength is in the creeks, not in the open sea. " Nothing recommended in this paper needs any change in Chinese customs. The army is the same, and China needs no Europeans or foreigners to help her to carry out this programme. If China cannot carry out what is here recommended, then no one else can do so. Besides, the programme is a cheap one. " With respect to the fleet, it is important to consider that in the employment of foreigners China can never be sure of them in case of a w^ar with the country they belong to ; while, on the other hand, if China asks a foreign power to lend her officers, then the foreign power who lends them will interfere with China. " The question is — " I. Is it better for China to get officers here and there, and nm the risk of these officers not being trustworthy, or, " 2. Is it better for China to think what nation there is who would be likely to be good friends with China in good weather and in bad weather, and then for China to ask no GENERAL GORDON. that nation to lend China the officers she wants for her fleet? " I think No. 2 is the safest and best for China. " Remember, udth this programme China wants no big officers from foreign powers. I say big officers, because I am a big officer in China. " If I stayed in China it would be bad for China, because it would vex the American, French, and German Govern- ments, who would want to send their officers. Besides, I am not wanted. China can do what I recommend herself. If she cannot, I could do no good. " (Signed), C. G. Gordon. "Canton, 7th July, 1880. " P.S. — As long as Pekin is the centre of the govern- ment of China, China can never afford to go to war with any first-class power. It is too near the sea. The Emperor (Queen Bee) must be in the centre of the hive. " No iron-clads or iron gun-boats can help China till she has a place to keep them in. But China can have no place (asylum) to keep them till she has an army. " China cannot have an army when generals keep twenty thousand men and draw pay for five thousand. Those generals ought to have their heads cut off. "(Signed), C. G. G. " HONG-KONG, 23d August, 1880." CHAPTER XII. AT GRAVESEND. "There is no news, my lord; but that he writes How happily he lives, how well beloved." — Two Gentlemen of Verona. ONE evening, in the year 1865, a doctor stepped out of a small house in Gravesend, and entering his carriage, ordered the coachman to drive home. The door of the cottage was closed by a young woman with a pale face, and eyes dim with tears, who held a baby in her arms. There happened to be passing at the moment a young man, who, at a glance, took in the whole situation, and whose natural insight into human life and character, and power of imagi- nation, enabled him to comprehend more than was revealed. He stopped at the cottage door that had just been closed, and gently tapped it. The young woman with the baby responded to the knock, and looked into the kindly face of a gentleman who was a stranger to her and to Gravesend. " Good evening ; may I come in? " " Certainly." The stranger stepped into the litde room, put his hat upon the table, and at once made himself at home. "Your baby is a fine little fellow. It is not the baby whom the doctor has been to see ? He looks as if nothinc 112 GENERAL GORDON. had ailed him since he was born. How old is the young man?" " He is two years and a half, sir. Yes, he is very hearty, bless him ! and never has anything the matter with him except when he is teething. That troubles him a little, and makes him cross. He has not had the measles yet, nor the whooping-cough, and I hope he will not, for my hands are tied so much at present that I don't know what I should do if I had any extra work." "What is the matter, then?" " My husband is very ill, sir." " I am sorry to hear that. From what complaint is he suffering? " " Oh, he has been very bad. He is a working man, but for some time he has not been able to work. His stomach has been bad; he has had such dreadful feelings — so weak, and sinking, and full of pain ; and then he used to get cold all over, his skin was white, and looked all shrivelled up and turned into goose flesh, and then his teeth chattered, and his knees knocked together, and he had dreadful shivering fits ; and he shook so that it seemed to shake the whole house ; and his face, and lips, and finger-nails all turned blue, and he seemed to be dying of cold, although he was in front of a big fire." "Yes," said the stranger, smilingly; "and when that had passed away he became just as hot as before he had been cold. His face got red, and he had palpitation, and his breathing was bad, and his head ached, and he felt as if it would burst ; wasn't it so?" "Yes, it was, sir." " And then, when they had passed away, another change came. The pain in his head and his back got better, and he broke into a great perspiration, and presently felt all right again." AT GRAVESEND. 113 " No, sir, not all right, but better. The fits left him so awfully weak that I didn't know what to do ; and the worst of it was, that they were sure to return the next day ; so it quite depressed us. " "Yes, your husband has, or has had, the ague." "Yes, that is what the doctor calls it. I never saw it before. I come from Derbyshire, and among the beautiful hills there we don't have such dreadful diseases." " Perhaps they will not always have them in Gravesend. When our people get more scientific, and have better sanitary arrangements, ague will die out." " I hope that will be soon." " I hope so, too. But your husband is better, isn't he ? " " Yes, sir, he is better," said the woman, the tears again coming to her eyes ; " but he is so dreadfully weak. The doctor has been scolding me about it ; he says he must have nourishing things. I don't know what to get him ; isn't milk nourishing, sir?" "Very." The strange gentleman had not looked about him much ; he had seemed to keep his eyes upon the woman's face, or the baby's form ; but he had taken in every detail of the litde room with its plain furniture, and he could not see a superfluous article, except a little vase that had probably cost twopence. "Yes, milk is, I suppose, one of the most nourishing kinds of food of which we can partake. And it is cheap, too. Have you given your husband plenty of it? " "Well, that is the worst of it, sir. He cannot take milk. It makes him sick." " Ah, then it is no use giving it to him. Could he eat a few grapes?" " I dare say he could, sir. But grapes are dear." " I will fetch a few ; do not tell him until I come back." 114 GENERAL GORDON. The stranger was out of the house ahiiost before he had concluded the sentence ; and before the woman had ceased wondering who he was, and why he had called, he was back again with a beautiful bunch of grapes and a piece of beef. "You loiow how to make beef-tea, don't you ?" '•' Oh, yes, sir. Thank you ; this is just what we wanted." " See to it at once, and make it good. May I go and see your husband? " The poor man scolded a little when his wife brought a stranger into the bed-room ; but there was something in that same stranger that won the sick man's heart at once. "Can you eat a few grapes?" The invalid's dry lips scarcely framed an answer in words before the cool, luscious fruit was between them. " They are good. They are the only nice things I have seen or tasted for a month." " I am glad you like them." " What beauties they are ! Splendid ! Such grapes do not often fall to the lot of poor folks. Thank you for them, sir." " Eat them up. They won't hurt you, and you shall have some more when these are gone." " Who are you, sir? I don't know you." " Never mind who I am. I am a stranger. I have not been in Gravesend long." " But what made you call at my house, sir? Who told you about me? " "No one." " Rut how is it that you are here." " Oh, I saw a doctor's carriage leave the door, and supposing that someone was ill, I thought I would come in and see who it was, and if I could do anything." The man looked faint. " I am not going to stay long AT GRAVESEND. 115 this time, but I shall come again. I have been sent to you." "Sent?" "Yes, sent by God. None of these things happen by chance. You in your weakness need just what I can give you, and so I Avas made to pass your door just as the doctor left it. Don't you see that all this must have been arranged by One who knows all things, and directs events according to His will?" The sick man shook his head ; and the stranger, with a kindly smile, left him to consider the subject at his leisure. He came again the next day with some more beef for beef-tea, and also some jellies and other delicacies, which the poor man needed more than medicines, but which were quite out of his reach. " How are you? " " Oh, I am better to-day, sir, thanks to you." " No ; thanks not to me, but to some One else. Have you thought about what I said? " " Yes, but I don't know anything about these things. I am only a poor man, and I have had to work hard all my hfe." " And so have I ; but I could not have worked if I had not had the assurance that all things were under the control of God." " He is very wonderful and very great, I know." " And He is very merciful and very good, /know." " But you see, sir, your life and mine have been so differ- ent." " How do you know that when you have not the least knowledge of my life, and cannot guess where it has been passed, or what I have had to do." " But you are rich." 116 GENERAL GORDON. " Am I ? But I assure you that many a time I have not known where my food was to come from, nor if I should find a place in which to lie down at night. But that is of very little consequence. Your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. He has taken care of me ; He will take care of you." " But why has He let me be ill? " " How can I tell ? You must wait. Sometime, perhaps, He will reveal a reason. And if not, there is always left to us faith." The man found afterwards the truth of the stranger's words ; for his new friend, with a persistent kindness that astonished the invalid, continued to bring and send him nourishing food, and occasionally to have short talks with him. By degrees the man grew strong ; and as strength came back, so did resignation and cheerfulness. He began to read for himself the Bible that his visitor gave him ; and he read, not as a duty to be got over as speedily as possible, but as a delight and a help ; and it became to him a light to his feet and a lamp to his path. When he met with any difficulty he told it at once to his friend, and the trouble seemed to melt away, and everything appeared plain and easy to be understood. The man's illness was the best thing that had ever happened to him, for when he went back to his work his whole life and character appeared changed. His mates met him with congratulations : — " Glad to see you back, old fellow. How are you getting on?" " I am getting on well. I have found a friend, who has been kinder to me than a brother." "Who is he?" " He is the gentleman who lives at the Fort House ; he has only lately come to live in Gravesend." AT GRAVESEND. 117 The gentleman at the Fort House was Lieutenant-Colonel Gordon. He was sent to Gravesend to serve in the capacity of Commanding Royal Engineer, and there he remained from 1865 to 187 1. Nothing could prove more clearly than his life there the marvellous ability that he possesses to turn with facility from one kind of work to another, and become well-nigh perfect in all. At the close of our last chapter we saw in him the master of all the tactics of war, and the valued counsellor of the greatest statesman of a great nation. In the present chapter we see in him the devoted philanthropist, the beneficent peacemaker, the lowly servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. Gravesend, at the time when Colonel Gordon went to reside in the town, was still a very favorite watering-place. It is only twenty-four miles from London, and every summer thousands of Londoners resort thither to enjoy the salubrious air and picturesque scenery of the great river- port of England. In these days the railways do such wonders for the people, that they can be carried in a few hours not only to Ramsgate and Dover, but any place north, south, east, and west of the country ; and a holiday at Gravesend has ceased to be as great a treat to our children as it was to ourselves. It is still, however, " the place to spend a happy day," for the far-famed Rosherville Gardens have not lost all their charms, nor are the views from Wind- mill Hill less interesting than of old ; while the steam-boat ride from London down the Thames is, on a fine summer's day, full of enjoyment. To wander about on the hills, or rest on the piers, or gather water-cress in the beautiful streams, or eat the " shrimps, brown shrimps," for which Gravesend is famous, or to search for wild flowers in the 118 GENERAL GORDON. pleasant Kentish lanes, or walk by the side of the broad river are pleasures that do not pass away with passing years ; and Gravesend is not likely to cease to be a well-known and favorite resort to all, and especially to the young dwellers in the metropolis. It was in the vicinity of the river that Colonel Gordon spent most of his time, for it was his special duty to super- intend the construction of the Thames defences. This brought him into connection with a great many men and boys belonging to the working classes, who soon found that a friend had come to live among them. To the boys — and there are hundreds of them engaged on and about the river — he was especially kind. Not one of those with whom Gordon came into contact could ever utter the bitter complaint, " No man careth for my soul," for Gordon cared for that, and the body too. " Come up to the Fort House this evening," he would say, when he saw a boy in trouble, and in need of counsel and help. The house was large, and the colonel's wants were small ; there was in it, therefore, abundant room and opportunity for all kinds of charitable work. The writer has quite lately met many peoi)le in Gravesend, who, although thirteen years had passed since Gordon resided there, still say he was " the best man who ever lived in Gravesend." In his home he lived in the simplest and most economical manner, and all that he saved he distributed with lavish hand. " The furniture in his bed-room," said one, " consisted of a bed, a chair, and a box ; but he made many of the bed- rooms of the sick poor beautiful with exquisite flowers and fruit." " It is a comfort to have a garden," said a poor man who was allowed to walk in the I'^ort garden. " I often think if AT GRAVESEKD. 119 I were rich I should like to cultivate my own potatoes and green peas. It would be a pleasure to watch them grow, and see the progress they made from week to week." " But anybody can do that. Have you not a bit of ground attached to your house?" " Not a square yard." " Very well then, I will lend you a yard or two of mine. Put what you like in that corner yonder, and come and gather in the crop when it is ready." The man looked into the merry face of his friend to see if he were joking ; but he knew the colonel meant it, and he took him at his word. It gave the man and his family so much pleasure that Gordon extended the privilege to others, who are now only too glad to talk of the gentleman whose whole life seemed to be one of bounty and generosity. He had eyes that were very quick to see sorrow. He was once watching a young bricklayer at his work, when he per- ceived that there was something on his mind which was making him unhappy. In his own pleasant way he soon entered into conversation with the young man, and almost before the latter knew it he was pouring out his tale of sor- row into the sympathetic heart of Colonel Gordon. " Mother has left us, and gone away from home ; and everything there is so miserable that it is not like home at all." " What do you do with your evenings?" " I cannot do anything with them, sir. There is no light, no warm place in which to sit, no quiet in which to read ; so I stand about the streets when I have finished work." "Come and spend your evenings at the Fort House. You \vill find books and papers there, pen and ink, and other lads too." "Thank you, colonel, I shall be very glad to do that." So the young bricklayer became a nightly visitor, and had 120 GENERAL GORDON. many a talk with the colonel. Very happy evenings they were, both to him who did good and to him who received it ; for no one could be in the company of Gordon without being morally and spiritually elevated. One evening the young bricklayer was at Fort House as usual, when he was suddenly taken ill, and haemorrhage of the lungs set in. The colonel at once sent for a doctor. He found the young man very ill, and likely to continue so for some time. What was to be done ? He could not be sent in his present state to his own miserable home — that was not to be thought of. But the doctor and the colonel consulting together decided that he might be removed in a cab to the house of Mrs. Smith (to whom the writer is indebted for the narrative), where he would receive all necessary attention. The colonel delivered him into Mrs. Smith's charge, giving the good Samaritan's injunction and assurance, " Take care of him ; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again I will repay thee." He was not long before he came again, for he visited him continually. "What can you take? Can I bring you anything? " he would ask ; and would never forget to say to Mrs. Smith, " Be sure to let him have everything he fancies." He bore the cost of everything, met the doctor's expenses, and paid for the lodgings, and was constant in his thoughtful helpfulness. He had plenty of work to do, but could always find time to read the Bible to the young man, who liked lis- tening to that, and to the colonel's talks and prayers, better than anything. At last the doctor advised that he should be removed to the local infirmary, for he was in a rapid consumption. "Shall I see you there, colonel?" he asked, with wistful eyes. AT GRAVESEND. 121 " Certainly ; I have a good many friends there, and am often calling to see them." " I know that I am going to die." " But you are not afraid, for now you know who says, ' I am the Resurrection and the Life.' He will be as near to you in the infirmary as here, and as near to you in death as in life." " Oh, yes, I know Him now ; " and so he did, for as the narrator said, " The colonel had led him to Christ by his life and teaching." So the young bricklayer, who would do no more work, was taken to the infirmary, and was able to show to the patients there what Christianity could do for a dying man. " Read the Bible to me," he would say to the nurse ; " there is nothing like it." " But you are tired." " Yes, I am very tired. I do long to go to Jesus." On another occasion he said, " I can see such beautiful sights, like little peeps into heaven. Can you see them ? I shall soon be there." " Is there anyone you would like to see before you die ? " asked his good friend, the colonel, when he saw the end was near, " Yes, I should hke to see my mother." So the mother was telegraphed for, and arrived in time to see what the Saviour of the world is able to do for those who trust in Him. And then the young bricklayer went away, as he was long- ing to do, to be with Jesus ; and to thank Him for sending him a friend and teacher in Colonel Gordon. Another incident in the colonel's life at Gravesend was the following : — A boy in the employ of a tradesman in Harmer Street robbed him. The culprit was discovered, and the master 122 GENERAL GORDON. angrily declared that he would send him to prison. The mother of the boy was almost heart-broken, but she had heard of Colonel Gordon, and knew that, like his Master, he never turned away from the sad and troubled ones who sought his help. So, with all the mother's earnestness, she went at once to the colonel, and trying to check her tears, she told him the story. " I cannot understand it, sir ; he has always . been an honest boy, and I do believe that this is the first and the last time. If he could only have another chance ! But if he is sent to prison I am afraid it will end in his ruin." " I am afraid it will. I will do what I can for him. What would you like me to do? " " Oh, sir, if you would intercede with his master, and per- suade him not to send my boy to jail, I will be grateful to you all my life ! " So the colonel went to Harmer Street and saw the trades- man who had been robbed. He was very angry. He thought the boy deserved to be punished, and that it would do him good, and serve him right, and be a warning to him and to others, if he had a few months in prison. But Gordon pleaded very earnestly for him, and every one respected the colonel, and was glad to do as he wished. " What will become of the boy? I cannot keep him here now." '* Oh, no, of course you cannot. But if you will promise not to prosecute him, I will take charge of him, and perhaps we can make a man out of the rascal yet. At least I should like to try, if you will let me." " Very well, colonel. I will not punish him, and I hope he may repay your kindness." "Thank yiju very much." The colonel spoke very gravely to the boy, telling him how he had barely escaped going to prison, and pointing out AT GRAVESEND. 123 to him how he had broken the laws of God as well as man. " But you shall have a chance," he said ; " your master has kindly forgiven you, and if you ask God, He will forgive you also. And I will help you, if you behave well in the future and try to do your best. Will you ? " "Yes, sir, indeed I will," said the boy through his tears. " How would you like to go to sea? " asked the colonel. " I should like it very much indeed, sir." " Very well. Now you must go to school for a year. I will pay for you ; and you must attend to your lessons, and try to learn as much as you possibly can in the time. Will you?" " Yes, sir ; I will try to be a good boy in everything." "You must come up and see me sometimes at the Fort House ; and you must spend your evenings at the Boys' Home, and I shall see you there. By these means I shall know whether you are keeping your promise. If at the end of twelve months I find that you have really been a good boy, then I will get you a berth in a good ship, and you shall go to sea." The boy thanked the colonel, and so did his mother ; and, in fact, they continue to do so, though perhaps he does not know it, to this day. My informant says, " The lad is now a man, and goes to sea ; while his mother resides in Gravesend still. He has a good character, and both the mother and the sailor bless the name of Gordon, who saved the lad from prison and the mother from disgrace." Another mother residing in Gravesend says that she thinks her son would never have recovered from his illness if it had not been for the large amount of nourishment supplied him by Colonel Gordon. Her boy was ill of fever, and the colonel bought or sent everything that he needed ; and not only so, but visited him, and read to him and prayed with him constantly until he recovered. After he was better, the 124 GENERAL GORDON, colonel often invited him to Fort House, where he always had happy times. The colonel was the friend of all the family during the whole of his stay ; and when he went to bid them farewell on leaving Gravesend, so fully had his kind heart sympathized with them, that he wept. The father of the boy, at that time a policeman, and now a detective, says he thinks that " Gravesend never had, before or since, a better Christian gentleman, nor one so deeply interested in young men and lads." That is certainly true, although Gravesend has had, and has still, as the writer knows by personal acquaintance, many earnest Christian workers. One of the first established ragged schools in the country was at Gravesend ; and in this school Colonel Gordon was an indefatigable worker. The boys loved him, and honored him above all others. There used to be testimonies borne to him written in chalk (of which there is always a bit to be found in the neighborhood of Gravesend), ornamenting, or otherwise, the palings and walls \ such as these, " C. G. is a jolly good feller," " God bless the Kernel," "Long life to our dear teacher, Gordon." In the ragged school he always took the roughest and the raggedest boys into his class, and taught them to be more gentle in their manners, and more honorable and true in their lives and characters. " We loved him so much," said a young man, " that many of us went to the night school only that we might be near him." A lady who takes great interest in lads at the present time in Gravesend, says that she visited a good many of the poor and sick in that town with the colonel, wlio read and prayed with ihcm, and always had some kindness to show them of a substantial sort. She thinks that occasionally his kindness was imposed on. She remembers with pleasure the address which he gave at the o2)ening of her Mission AT GRAVESEND. 125 Room in Passenger Court, and speaks of the great comfort which his presence brought, not only to the patients in the hospital, but also to the poor and the aged in the workhouse, to whom he not only spoke, but whom he cheered with the singing of hymns. Visitors to the ragged schools are shown some Chinese banners which the colonel left behind him. One is his owTi name, exquisitely worked in Chinese characters. These are proudly borne by the present Gravesend boys when they walk in procession on Sunday-school festivals or other gala occasions. A missionary now laboring in Gravesend in connection with the British and Foreign Sailors' Society, who has kindly furnished the wTiter with some information, writes : — " Throughout the town it is said of him, like the Master, that he ' went about doing good ' ; and as he never courted the praise of men, only eternity will disclose the results of his sojourn in Gravesend." Great sorrow was felt by all classes when he left. A doctor declared that he quite missed him, as whenever he found a case particularly needing attention, he always com- mended it to Gordon, and never in vain. On one occasion he stepped into the doctor's carriage and asked, — " Have you any work for me ? " "Yes," was the reply; "there is a lad at Perry Street" (a village about a mile from Gravesend) " who requires a little help and instruction." " I am glad of that," replied Gortlon ; and he went to see the boy every evening from that time, until he no longer needed help. When Colonel Gordon left Gravesend, the following appreciative testimony to his worth appeared in one of the local papers : — " Our readers, without exception, will learn Avith regret of 126 GENERAL GORDON. the departure of Lieutenant-Colonel Gordon, C.B., R.E., from the town, in which he has resided for six years, gaining a name by the most exquisite chanty that will long be remembered. Nor will he be less missed than remembered, for in the lowly walks of life, by the bestowal of gifts ; by attendance and ministrations on the sick and dying ; by the kindly giving of advice ; by attendance at the Ragged School, Workhouse, and Infirmary ; in fact, by general and continual beneficence to the poor, he has been so unwearied in well-doing that his departure will be felt by many as a personal calamity. There are those who even now are reaping the rewards of his kindness. His charity was essential charity, and had its root in deep philanthropic feeling and goodness of heart ; shunning the light of publicity, but coming even as the rain in the night-time, that in the morning is noted not, but only the flowers bloom and give a greater fragrance. Colonel Gordon, although comparatively a young man, has seen something of service, having obtained his brevet and order of Companion of the Bath by distinguished service in China. He is thus eminently fitted for his new post, and there is no doubt but that he will prove as beneficent in his station under the Foreign Office as he was while at Gravesend ; for it was evidently with him a natural heart-gift, and not to be eradi- cated. Colonel Gordon's duties at Gravesend terminated on the 30th of September, and by this time he is on his way to Galatz, in Turkey, where he will take up his residence as British Commissioner on the Danube. He is succeeded by Colonel the Hon. G. VVrottesley, as Commandant of Royal Engineers for the Gravesend district. All will wish him well in his new sphere ; and we have less hesitation in penning these lines from the fact that laudatory notice will confer but little pleasure ujjon him who gave with the heart, and cared not for commendation." w CHAPTER XIII. Gordon's first visit to the soudan. "The force of his own merit makes his way; A gift that heaven gives." — Henry VIIL HAT is the meaning of the name which for so long has been occupying a prominent position in our newspapers, and has been heard in fragments of conversation among all classes of people ? The Soudan is " the country of the Blacks." It is in Central Africa. It is bounded on the north by Egypt, and on the south by the Nyanza Lakes. It extends from the Red Sea on the east to the western boundary of Darfour on the west. Its length is about 1600 miles, and its breadth 1300. It has at present no railways and no canals, although there is some talk of making a rail- way from Suakim to Berber, If this were done, very happy results might follow, for it would make commerce between Egypt and the Soudan possible, and would bring the country of the Blacks in connection with the whole world by means of the Red Sea. At present the people take their journeys on the backs of camels, excepting when the White Nile is navigable, as it is at certain periods of the year. Egypt first took possession of the Soudan in the year 1 81 9, when Ismail, the son of Mehemet Ali, was sent by his 128 GENERAL GORDON. father to establish an Egyptian Government at Khartoum, r^rom the first the Soudan has been an exceedingly difficult land to maintain. Ismail and his army managed to establish themselves ; but they had not been long in possession before the Blacks had their first risins:. Thev did not want the Egy[)tians either then or afterward. One of the native rulers invited Ismail and his friends to dine with him. He drugged the wine which he gave them to drink ; and when they were overcome by its effects, he set fire to the house in which they were feasting, and so burnt them to death. Of course, after that, the Soudanese were compelled, whether they wished or not, to submit to Egyptian rule — Senaar and Kordofan being wrested from them. In the year 1826 there was a Ciovernor appointed in the person of Khurishid Pasha, who ruled over Fashoda for eleven years. A rebellion broke out in Kassala in 1841, at which time the Soudan was divided into seven provinces ; and there was so much difficulty con- nected with them that Said Pasha, when he visited the Soudan, was very much disposed to give it up altogether, but that a strong rei)resentation was made to him to the effect that if he did this there would be constant warfare between the tribes. He therefore appointed a Governor; and there have been Governors of the Soudan ever since. There was for some years a gradual pushing southward of the I'^gyptians : and the country was further opened by adventurous traders, who, for purposes of their own, sought to traverse the strange wild region of which almost nothing was known ; and in the year 1853 the English Consul for the Soudan, Mr. John Petherick, succeeded in the interests of trade, in making a voyage along the upper waters of the White Nile. He found that ivory was plentiful and cheap ; and henceforth considerable trading was carried on. At that time Egypt's possessions on the Nile only extended a GORDON'S FIRST VISIT TO THE SOUDAN. 129 hundred miles south of Khartoum ; but since then she has been rapidly extending her rule, and the last conquest, that of Darfour, has added many miles to her territory. Unfortunately the European traders did not long content themselves with dealing in ivory, for they found that to deal in slaves was very much more profitable. In the Bahr Gazelle country bands of armed men kept the posts for the traders, so that their horrible traffic could be carried on in safety. In the year i860 the world was fully aroused to these matters, and the indignant voice of the people became so loud, that the Europeans could not for very shame carry on their infamous work. So they sold their slave stations to the Arabs, who contrived to keep the peace with the Khedive by paying a yearly rental. The poor people who were caught and sold into slavery were no better than before ; and the thing itself was, of course, as unrighteous as ever. Indeed, the Arabs were more ruthless than the Europeans had been. They were provided with arms and ammunition by the Egyptian Government and the Europeans who had before held the posts, and they stopped at nothing. They actually made the slaves catch each other ; for they trained some boy-negroes whom they had stolen, and so taught and urged them, that they became adepts in the art of securing their fellows. The result of all this was to devastate the whole district. Captain Speke wrote : — "The atrocities committed by these traders are beyond civilized belief. They are constantly fighting, robbing, and capturing slaves and cattle. No honest man can either trade or travel in the country, for the natives have been bullied to such an extent that they either fight or run away, according to their strength or circumstances." Dr. Schweinfurth, in his inter- esting work. The Heart of Africa, writes : — " There are traces still existing which demonstrate that large villages and 130 GENERAL GORDON. extensive plots of cultivated land formerly occupied the scene where now all is desolation. . . . The population must have diminished by at least two-thirds." The men who were doing so much harm to these villages were becoming very powerful themselves, on account of their number and influence ; and at last the slave-dealers set up a king of their own, and refused to pay taxes to the Imperial Government. The name of the man who ventured to oppose the authority of the Khedive was Sebehr Rahama. When Dr. Schweinfurth saw him he was surrounded with a court that was little less than princely in its details. . . , Special rooms, provided with carpeted divans, were reserved as ante-chambers, and into these all visitors were conducted by richly-dressed slaves. . . . The regal aspect of these halls of state was increased by the introduction of some lions, secured, as may be supposed, by sufficiently strong and massive chains. . . . His wealth matched even his supersti- tion. It was reported, on good authority, that to foil the black art of an enemy, whose charms were a proof against lead, he had 25,000 dollars melted down into bullets, as the amulets did not apply to silver. This man was the owner of thirty fortified posts, and his power was so great that the Egyptian Government tried to check its growth, and sent out some soldiers, under the command of an officer named Ballal. I>ut Sebehr brought a force to oppose him, and Ballal was slain, with some of his men. The Khedive was angry, but he had to submit to that which he could not ])revent, and Sebehr was more than ever like the king of the slave-dealers. At last the Khedive became afraid that Darfour would come into the hands of Sebehr, in which case he might in time wrest the whole of the Soudan from Egypt. He tried to secure the rebel on his side. He made him a I3cy, and GOKDO.YS FIRST VISIT TO THE SOUDAN. 131 invited him to join him in an expedition to Darfour. The Sultan of Darfour fell before the enemy, and his two sons were slain ; and though other members of the family suc- ceeded, they were in turn killed, and Darfour became part of the Soudan. Sebehr was made a pasha, but he wanted to be more than that. " What will satisfy you ? " was asked of him. " I have done the fighting and won the victory," was the reply; " I ought to be Governor-General." From that time the Khedive set his face against slavery, although previously he had not only allowed it, but received some of the proceeds arising from it. He, therefore, in 1869, called in the aid of Sir Samuel Baker to assist him " to strike a direct blow at the slave trade in its distant nest"; and Sir Samuel, in his celebrated book, Isfitailia, published in 1874, gives a graphic account of his journeys and experiences. We shall refer to these in a subsequent chapter; for later events have made Sir S?.muel Baker's mission appear of even greater importance than it did — at all events as far as British interests were concerned — when it was first undertaken. Sir Samuel Baker undertook the work with all its responsi- bilities, and for the next four years worked hard, opening up the Nile country as far as the lakes, and doing his best to suppress the slave trade ; and in 1873 ^^^ resigned his post. The difficulty now was to find a worthy successor. But the man was ready when the time of need had coaie. At the sitting of the Danubian Commission, in Constanti- nople, Nubar Pasha hail met Colonel Gordon, and was much struck by his ability, force of character, and honorable dispo- sition, Nubar Pasha, therefore, resolved to consult Gordon in the emergency which had arisen ; and he asked the 132 GENERAL GORDON. Englishman if he could recommend some suitable person to take the post vacated by Sir Samuel Baker. Gordon took time to consider ; and the next year he wrote to Nubar Pasha to say that if the Khedive would apply to the English Government for him, he would himself accept the position of Governor of the tribes of the Nile Basin. The Khedive accordingly applied to England, and Eng- land gave permission for Gordon to go to the Soudan in order to assist the Egyptians. The Khedive informed him of the result of his application, and then he said that he would pay Gordon ;^io,ooo a year for his services. But Gordon would not accept so much money. " Fix your own terms, then," said the Khedive ; and Gordon said that he would take _;^2ooo a year, as he be- lieved that would cover his expenses. The Khedive explained his duties. He was to endeavor to put an end to the traffic in slaves. If the brigands were willing to give up their former habits, and become servants of the Government, Gordon was to accept their services, and pay them well. If they were determined to follow their old course of life, Gordon wa* to punish them severely. Care was to be taken that proper supplies of corn were at hand. The troops were to till the land and raise crops ; and if the seat of government proved to be placed in an unproductive locality, they must move to a more fertile region. Gordon was also to endeavor to establish some system of post-communication, and to endeavor to get the assistance of the tribes among whom he was going to live, in order to help him in his efforts to jjut down the slave trade. Gordon went home for a short time before commencing his duties; and in February, 1874, he reached Cairo, on his way to commence work. GORDON'S FIRST VISIT TO THE SOUDAN. 133 Dr. Birbeck Hill has published in his book, Colonel Gor- don in Central Africa, the letters which Gordon wrote home. It may be questioned whether any man's letters were better worth publishing. No novel is as interesting — no book of travels more graphic. Added to his other powers, Charles Gordon is one of the best letter-writers of his time : he is chatty and pleasant, breezy and bright, almost all through. In his first letter he said that he thought he saw through the affair, and that the expedition was a sham got up to in- terest and please the English people. But though he made this discovery, he was hopeful of being able to achieve some good results. He spent a few days at Cairo ; but he said that he and Nubar Pasha did not exactly " hit it off." He wanted to travel by a steamer that would be shortly leaving for Suakim, for by doing so he would save something like ;^400. But Nubar Paslia did not like the new Governor of Upper Egypt to go to his field of office and honor except in becoming state. So a steamer was engaged, and a number of servants provided, and he started off with all the pomp and ceremo- nial of state. He, attended by an equerry of the Viceroy's, was sent to Suez by special train. But their journey was not very satis- factory. An engine had run off the line, and this made a block on the railway, which stopped the special train in which the new Governor was travelling. There occurred a delay of two hours ; but though Gordon could be very quick tempered and annoyed by some things, he was only amused at this. In relating the incident he said, " We were shunted into a common train with a great many people — begun in glory and ended in shame." They went down the Red Sea to Suakim, and there were 134 GENERAL GORDON. put in quarantine for the night. Gordon guessed it was because the governor was not ready to receive them. They had on board two hundred and twenty troops, who were to accompany him across the desert. This journey was taken on camels, and occupied a fortnight. On the 13th of March he arrived at Khartoum. He thus describes his reception : " The Governor-General met your brother in full uniform, and he landed amid a salute of artillery, and a battalion of troops with a band. It was a fine sight. The day before, your brother had his trousers off, and was pulling the boat in the Nile, in spite of croco- diles, who never touch you when moving. He cannot move now without guards turning out. I have got a good house here, and am very comfortable." He was glad to be told that the rest of his journey would be less difficult and tedious than it might have been ; for the "sudd," the undergrowth of vegetation in the river, had been cleared out by the soldiers, so that the distance which had taken Sir Samuel Baker more than a year could now be accomplished in three weeks. He spent a few days in Khartoum, and held a review ; besides which he visited the hospital and the schools, to the great delight of the little black children. He wrote, " Your brother's tide is ' His Excellency General-Colonel Gordon, the Governor-General of the Ecjuator'; so no one can or ought to cross it without permission of His Excellency." He issued a decree which put the district under martial law, declaring that the Government of Egypt had the monopoly of the trade in ivory ; that no one should enter without a passport ; and that arms and powder were not to be imported. He described the air as being so dry that nothing de- cayed ; everything was dried up. The Khartoum people saluted him with a shrill noise that was vcrv musical. GORDON'S FIRST VISIT TO THE SOUDAN. 135 They left Khartoum amid a salute of artillery, and steamed up the Nile. He thought the crocodiles were dreadful- looking creatures, as they lay basking in the sun with their mouths open. Little birds might always be seen flying about these glistening creatures. There were large flocks of geese and other birds flying south. They had a pleasant journey, and time and opportunity were given to Gordon to get used to his party, and his party to him. His staff consisted of Colonel Long of the United States, Major Campbell of the Egyptian staff, Mr. Kemp, an engineer, Mr. Linant ; and Messrs. Anson, Russell, and Gessi. Gordon had decided to take with him Abou Saoud, a slave-hunter known as the "Sultan." No one approved of this, but Gordon felt sure that he was right to take him, and that he would find him very useful. He said that none but poor people spoke in Abou's favor. One gentleman said that Gordon ought never to eat with him, lest he should poison him ; but lie felt sure that the Sultan would be nothing but a help to him. The steamer went very slowly, and they had time to notice the animals all around them — the storks, the mon- keys, and the noses of the hippopotami. He said they passed some people who wore gourds for head-dresses, and " also some Shillooks, who wear no head or other dress at all." One night he was thinking rather pensively of the friends whom he had left at home, and of the dangers and difficul- ties of the work which he had engaged to do, when sud- denly he heard loud peals of laughter. " I felt put out, but it turned out to be birds who laughed at us from the bushes in a very rude way. They are a species of stork, and seemed in capital spirits, and highly amused at anybody thinking of going up to Gondokoro with the hope of doing anything." 136 GENERAL GORDON. He saw troops of buffaloes, and camelopards looking like steeples, and eating the tops of the trees. He said the villages looked like haystacks. They saw a tribe of Dinkas, and the chief came on board, in full dress — a necklace — who seemed inclined to salute him in the usual way, by spitting in his hand. Gordon gave him some food, which he seemed to enjoy, and after eating which he wished to kiss his feet ; but the general would not allow this, so he sang a hymn of praise to him instead. Gordon gave him a string of beads as a present, with which the chief was highly de- lighted. The mosquitoes annoyed him very much, and the heat was great, but they got on tolerably well. They passed some natives who had rubbed their faces with wood until they looked like slate-pencils ; and he gave one chief a picture from the Illustrated London Nezvs, which he was to keep to show that he was protected. At a place called Bohr he found the people angry because he had come to put down slavery. But at St. Croix, a mis- sionary establishment, the people danced with joy to see him. At last there is this entry in his diary : — "Gondokoro, i6th April. — Got here to-day, much to the surprise of the people, who never expected one's arrival at all, and did not know of my nomination." CHAPTER XIV. WHAT IS THE SOUDAN? " I think our country sinks beneath the yoke; It weeps, it bleeds ; and each new day a gash Is added to her wounds. I think, withal, There would be hands uplifted in my right From gracious England." — Macbeth. WE think a little more information respecting the coun- try in which Colonel Gordon had now taken up his abode will be interesting, especially to the young readers of this book, many of whom are saying, " Tell us something about the Soudan." We have already given the explanation of the name, and the size of the country, which is at present but sparsely inhabited. It is a district full of romantic in- terest. It was only a short while ago lonely, unknown, and unexplored. For ages people have been reading of the won- derful river. The Nile, and have welcomed all information respecting it. For many years this amounted to very little ; but Speke and Grant, Sir Samuel Baker and Dr. Schwein- furth, have, during the last twenty years, thrown the light of their researches upon the land of mystery, and given us much knowledge that we never possessed before. One reason why it was so little known was, that there were no roads by which it could be reached. The only method of travel is by means 138 GENERAL GORDON. of camels, which can traverse the deserts at great speed. Egypt has endeavored to occupy the Soudan since the year 1819 ; but it has cost many wars to keep the possession even of the tribes who were at war among themselves. One of the first to give the world a written account of the Soudan was Mr. John Petherick, whose name has already been mentioned. He entered the service of Mehemet Ali Pasha, Viceroy of Egypt, in the year 1845. ^^ secured the necessary stock of provisions and camels at Assouan, and started early in January, 1847, going first to Korosko and then to Berbera, then to Kordofan, and then to Khartoum. He gives some interesting descriptions of the country and the people of the Soudan. He one day wished to have a Turkish bath to refresh him after his journey, and was told that one would be brought to him. To his surprise he found the bath consisted of a small wooden bowl and a teacup. The bowl contained dough, and the cup sweet oil. The dough was to be rubbed into the skin to cleanse it, and the oil, which was perfumed, was afterwards applied for refreshment. The operation was called the "dilka." The better class natives use the dilka every evening, and it is supposed not only to keep them clean, but to be conducive to health. The dress of the Soudanese women is very simple. They attire themselves in dark blue calico, which they wrap round the waist, and which covers them down to the knees. Be- sides this they wear a white muslin veil, which covers the head and the face, leaving only the eyes exposed. They are very fond of ornaments, especially of beads, which they wear not only round their necks, but also round their waists and their wrists. They further decorate themselves with neck- laces of "saumeet," or pieces of agate an inch thick, with alternated colors of black, brown, and white. They wear WHAT IS THE SOUDAN? 139 ear-rings and nose-rings of gold. Those in the ear weigh half an ounce each, and that in the nose is so large as to cover the mouth. It is worn on the right side of the nose. When they cannot afford the gold rings they put a piece of coral through the nose. Not only are the neck, ears, and nose ornamented, but the ankles also. Strings of glass beads, or filigree ornaments fastened with a silk tassel, generally red, above thick-soled brown leather sandals, adorn the feet of the Soudanese girls. The girls themselves are thus described in Petherick's interesting book, Egypt: — "Their color partakes of various shades, from light to brown, almost black ; and although they scarcely ever wash — using the "dilka" instead of water — their skin appears clean and fresh. The hair, which never reaches below the shoulders, and inclines to be woolly, is plaited into a variety of forms, but generally closely to the head, fitting like a skull-cap, and hanging down in thick masses of innumerable small plaits all around the side and back of the head. An- other form is to plait the hair so as to adhere close to the top of the head as in the former case, but the ends, instead of being plaited, are combed out and stiffened with a solution of grease, forming a thick bushy circle around the head. With this head-dress, as the lady only arranges her hair once or twice a-month, she cannot recline upon a pillow, for which she is obliged to substitute a small wooden stool, hollowed out to fit the neck, upon which she reposes." The houses of the people in the Soudan are as simple as their dress, and more simple than their ornaments. They are built of sun-burnt bricks, plastered with a composition made of manure and gray sand. There is generally only one large room in the house, which is used both for living and sleeping in, and a small one used as a lumber-room. Often there are no windows, but if there are any, they are placed in very high positions. 140 GENERAL GORDON. They call their bedsteads " angareb " — a frame with no posts, having strips of hide drawn across it, and a mat of palm leaves placed on the top. There are no chairs in the house ; but a few stools and the angareb are the entire fur- niture — the latter being the sofa by day and the bed by night. Mr. Petherick found some willow pattern plates and basins in some of the houses, but generally wooden bowls are the utensils used. Water is the chief drink of the Soudanese ; and water in the desert is a great desideratum. The water is stowed in earthen pitchers, and instead of glasses from which to drink it, the rim of a gourd is used. l"he principal food is " assida," which is maize flour made into thick porridge. Each woman grinds her own, for which purpose each family possesses a mill, which is generally placed in a separate hut used as a kitchen. The mill con- sists of two stones, one two feet in length and ten inches A\ide, with a smooth surface, fixed into the centre of a slightly raised mound of clay, concave in shape, so as to hold the flour, and a smaller stone, which the woman presses over the larger one, using both hands, and kneeling the bet- ter to perform her work. She can grind half a peck of corn in an hour. The fire over which the porridge is boiled is made of wood, kept in its place by three large stones or lumps of clay. When the porridge is cooked sufficiently it is put into a wooden dish, and heaped up in the same way that our blanc-mange is. It is eaten with a sauce of a curious vegetable called baymeh, and powdered meat very highly seasoned. No spoons are used ; each person con- veys the food to his mouth with his fingers. Sometimes the flour is made into thin cakes, and baked on the hot ashes as a change from porridge ; but always the same kind of sauce is eaten, and nearly always the men dine first, and the women after they have finished. WHAT IS THE SOUDAN? 141 The children are never dressed until they are eight or nine years old, and they are very young when they are mar- ried. A mother carries her baby on her left hip : the baby is always naked, and sits astride. At the time of Petherick's visit the Governor-General of the Soudan was Hhalid Pasha, and the Egyptian dependen- cies were Dongola, Berbera, Khartoum, Sennaar, Fazogl, Taker, and Kordofan ; Khartoum being the capital. The Government stores were there, and an arsenal used for the construction and repair of boats. The only stone building in Khartoum was that of the Roman Catholic mission. There was a church in connection with it, and a school. At that time, with the exception of the Roman Catholics, there were only five Europeans in the place. Yet Khartoum was of considerable mercantile importance. There was then no communication, as there is now, by means of the Red Sea from Suakim to Suez and Cairo, and the thought of the canal had scarcely entered men's minds. But Manchester goods were brought into the Khartoum market — for all the dresses of the Soudanese were of cotton ; and there were some exports, such as ivory from the White Nile, and gum arable, ostrich feathers, and beeswax from Abyssinia. Round about Khartoum there were extensive date groves and good gardens ; and in the centre of the town were two large bazaars, where all the manufactured goods that were needed could be bought. When the markets were held, booths were erected, and all sorts of wares spread out to tempt the pur- chaser. " Saddles for all kinds of beasts, cords, bridles, swords, lances, hoes, hatchets, cowry shells, needles, brass thimbles, oil, odoriferous herbs, spices, antimony (called 'rohl') for tinging the eyelashes, pepper, salt, onions, garlic, tobacco, grain, coral, amber beads, ivory, iron bracelets, glass bead necklaces, hedjas, sandals, small looking-glasses, gaudily 142 GENERAL GORDON. Striped handkerchiefs, dyed cotton Manchester goods, red- bordered plain scarfs, and a thousand other things were to be bought in the Soudan market." Merissa is the favorite drink. It is intoxicating, but drunkenness is infrequent, and is looked upon as a disgrace. Merissa is made from grain, either dourra or duchu (millet). This grain is moistened, and then spread between two layers of the leaves of the usher, a poisonous plant, which attains its greatest perfection in Kordofan. This gives the merissa a flavor. The dourra is then dried in the sun, and ground in a mill. The flour is then mixed with water, and worked into a thick paste. It is afterwards baked on a large earth- enware pan into thick cakes, which are next broken up, put into a pot, and boiled in water. Then, when the process of fermentation is at its height a few days later, it is filtered through bags made of the reeds of the date palm, and is ready for use. The watermelon is of great service to the Soudanese, and is, no doubt, not only more refreshing, but much more bene- ficial than merissa. At Kordofan it grows wild, but if the the seeds are sown, it is reproduced in large quantities. It can be kept for some time ; and the inside of the fruit be- comes liquid, and is such a good substitute for water, that when the latter is scarce, as it is in the hot season, both man and beast can live upon it. Another useful tree which is abundant in the neighborhood of Kordofan is the baobab. It grows to the height of thirty or forty feet, and its immense trunk and large branches are hollow. It flowers in August, and is then covered with blossoms that look something like our double-red hollyhock. Its fruit looks a little like a cocoa-nut. But the most wonderful thing about these trees is that they form natural tanks, in which water is kept. In the rainy season they get filled, and in the dry season the WHAT IS THE SOUDAN? 143 natives tap them, and find within them water enough for use, and so are able to Hve in districts where otherwise they could not exist during the drought. A great many of the trees of the Soudan are gum- producing. These were the sources of considerable profit to the Egyptian government until it became a trade, free from taxation, and thrown open to all. Petherick was the means of opening up the Soudan for purposes of trade, especially that of ivory. In 1853 he turned his attention to the district of the White Nile — very little known in those days, but lately become very famous — and began to see what could be done to establish the gum- arabic and ivory trades, of which the Egyptian Government no longer held the monopoly. He resided at II Obeid, and made expeditions from that place. Petherick's Egypt con- tains the account of his voyage up the White Nile. He went beyond the confines of the Egyptian Government, and left behind him all traces of civilization, passing primitive for- ests never disturbed until he and his Khartoum traders went into them to cut down the timber for boat-building. There were herds of antelopes and gazelles, and now and then a lion might be seen. Blue monkeys played among the branches, and flocks of wild fowl, from the teal to the goose, were plentiful. And so, too, were the crocodiles. Petherick and his men sailed past beautiful islands, with trees growing upon them such as we have scarcely heard of in England — mimosa, and heglig, and others. They made acquaintance with the strange tribes among whom afterwards Charles Gordon was to live — the Djibba, the Dinkas, and the Shillooks — people who were all naked, except the mar- ried women, who wore leather aprons behind and before. They were generally friendly, and willing to exchange what they had for a few glass beads. They astonished Mr. Peth- 144 GENERAL GORDON. erick by their mode of salutation, which was not shaking hands, or kissing hands, but spitting upon the hands. He tells an amusing story of the way in which he pur- chased an elephant tusk : — " My interpreter and myself seated ourselves opposite to the owner of the tusk, who obstinately retained his seat, refusing us an inspection of it. Placing a hide on the ground, a variety of beads, cowry shells, and copper brace- lets were displayed thereon. The beauty of these provoked striking signs of approbation, the vendors and bystanders grinning and rubbing their stomachs with both hands. A consultation then took place between the party and his friends as to the relative merits of the beads, which resulted in the following dialogue : — " Vendor. — ' Ah, your beads are beautiful, but the bride (tusk) I offer is lovely ! Like yourself, she is white and tall, and worthy of great price.' " Self. — ' Truly, the beauty of the bride is undeniable ; but from what I can see of her, she is cracked, while my beads are perfect.' " Vendor. — 'The beads you offer are truly beautiful, but I think they must have been gathered before they were ripe.' " Self. — ' Oh, no ; they were gathered when mature, and their color is peculiar to them, and you will find that they will wear as well as the best red ; they come from a different country.' " Vendor. — 'Well, let me have some more of them.' " His request being complied with, rising from the tusk and throwing himself upon the beads, he collected them greedily. At the same time, the possession of the tusk was disputed by half-a-dozen negroes, stating they had assisted to carry it on their shoulders, and claimed a recompense. WHAT IS THE SOUDAN? 145 On this being complied with, by a donation to each man, another set of men came forward, under the same pretence ; and the tusk was seized by my men at one extremity, whilst they had hold of the other, and in perfect good humor struggled for its possession. At last, to cut the matter short, I threw handfuls of beads amongst the crowd, which resulted in the immediate abandonment of the tusk for a scramble after them. In the meantime, the purchase was carried off, and safely lodged on board. After a fort- night's sojourn, leaving an establishment of ten men and a stock of merchandise wherewith to continue barter-trade, I returned direct to Khartoum." Other expeditions were made into the interior, and in this way the ivory trade was well and firmly established. It was fairly remunerative ; but another trade was becoming possible to the Soudanese, which was very much more profitable, and that was the slave-trade. At Kordofan it had always been easy to procure slaves, for the station is so near to the homes of the negroes that catching them was very possible. Mr. Petherick mentions the fact that a lad of fifteen or twenty years could be bought for from ^5 to jQS ; a girl of the same age costing about a third more. This was a regular trade then, and has been since. The slave-merchants brought them from their native hills, and sold them in Kordofan. They were often treated kindly, and trained to do field and domestic work. If they ran away they were pursued, and could be easily traced by their footprints in the sand. The Arabs would run after them for the sake of the reward which was offered. They would soon know whether the slaves ha