bject... of your mission to the Soudan,' declared the Khedive, 'is to
carry into execution the evacuation of those territories and to withdraw
our troops, civil officials, and such of the inhabitants... as may wish
to leave for Egypt... and after the evacuation to take the necessary
steps for establishing an organised Government in the different
provinces.' Nor was he himself under any misconception. He drew up a
memorandum when on board the Tanjore in which he fully acquiesced in the
evacuation of the Soudan. In a sentence which breathes the same spirit
as Mr. Gladstone's famous expression, 'a people rightly struggling to
be free,' he wrote: 'I must say that it would be an iniquity to
conquer these peoples and then hand them back to the Egyptians without
guarantees of future good government.' Finally, he unhesitatingly
asserted: 'No one who has ever lived in the Soudan can escape the
reflection "What a useless possession is this land!"' And Colonel
Stewart, who accompanied him and endorsed the memorandum, added: 'And
what a huge encumbrance to Egypt!' Thus far there was complete agreement
between the British envoy and the Liberal Cabinet.

It is beyond the scope of these pages to describe his long ride across
the desert from Korosko to Abu Hamed, his interview with the notables at
Berber, or his proclamation of the abandonment of the Soudan, which
some affirm to have been an important cause of his ruin. On the 22nd of
February he arrived at Khartoum. He was received with rejoicing by the
whole population. They recognised again their just Governor-General and
their present deliverer. Those who had been about to fly for the north
took fresh heart. They believed that behind the figure of the envoy
stood the resources of an Empire. The Mahdi and the gathering Dervishes
were perplexed and alarmed. Confusion and hesitancy disturbed their
councils and delayed their movements. Gordon had come. The armies
would follow. Both friends and foes were deceived. The great man was at
Khartoum, but there he would remain--alone.

Whatever confidence the General had felt in the power of his personal
influence had been dispelled on the journey to Khartoum. He had no more
illusions. His experienced eye reviewed the whole situation. He saw
himself confronted with a tremendous racial movement. The people of the
Soudan had risen against foreigners. His only troops were Soudanese. He
was himself a foreigner. Foremost among the leaders of the re