nd Duffh had been
joined by a chain of fortified posts, a day's journey apart, the
slave-dealers had been dispersed, and a letter post organized to
travel regularly between Cairo and the verge of the Albert Nyanza,
over two thousand miles as the crow flies.

Gordon had also visited Magungo, Murchison Falls, and Chibero, with
a view to a further line of fortified posts, and he established for
the first time, by personal observation, the course of the Victoria
Nile into Lake Albert. Although he had accomplished a great work
since his arrival, his efforts to put down the slave trade were
thwarted by Ismail Pasha Yacoub, governor-general of the Soudan, and
were likely to prove abortive so long as the Soudan remained a
distinct government from that of the equatorial provinces. He,
therefore, at the end of 1876, resigned his appointment and returned
to England. Strong pressure was put upon him by the khedive to
return, and on January 31, 1877, he left for Cairo, where he
received the combined appointment of governor-general of the Soudan,
Darfour, the equatorial provinces, and the Red Sea littoral, on the
understanding that his efforts were to be directed to the
improvement of the means of communication and the absolute
suppression of the slave trade. Gordon first visited Abyssinia,
where Walad el Michael was giving a great deal of trouble on the
Egyptian frontier. He settled the difficulty for a time and
travelled across country to Khartoum, where he was installed as
governor-general, May 5th. After a short stay there he hastened to
Darfour, which was in revolt; with a small force and rapid movements
he quelled the rising, and, by the humane consideration he showed
for the suffering people, won their confidence and pacified the
province. Before this work was completely accomplished his attention
was called away by the slave-dealers, who, headed by Suleiman, son
of the notorious Zebehr, with 6,000 armed men, had moved on Dara
from their stronghold, Shaka. Gordon left Fischer on August 31,
1877, with a small escort, which he soon outstripped, and in a day
and a half, having covered eighty-five miles on a camel, entered
Dara alone, to the surprise of its small garrison. The following
morning, attended by a small escort, he rode into the rebel camp,
upbraided Suleiman with his disloyalty, and announced his intention
to disarm the band and break them up. Gordon's fearless bearing and
strong will secured his object, and Suleiman