he pay of adventurers were willing
to enter the service of the Government, Col. Gordon was to make all
the use of them he could. If on the other hand they attempted to
follow their old course of life, whether openly or secretly, he was to
put in force against them to the utmost severity of martial law. Such
men as these must find in the Governor neither indulgence, nor mercy.
The lesson must be made clear even in those remote parts that a mere
difference of colour does not turn men into wares, and that life and
liberty are sacred things."

Another object of the new Governor should be to establish a line of posts
through all his provinces, so that from one end to the other they might
be brought into direct communication with Khartoum. Those posts should
follow, as far as was possible, the line of the Nile; but for a distance
of seventy miles the navigation of that river was hindered by rapids. He
was to search out the best way of overcoming this hindrance, and to make
a report thereon to the Khedive.

In dealing with the _Chieftains_ of the tribes which dwelt on the shores
of the lakes, the Governor was above all to try to win their confidence.
He must respect their territory, and conciliate them by presents, and
whatever influence he gains over them, he must use in the endeavour to
persuade them to put an end to the wars, which they so often make on each
other in the hope of carrying off slaves. Much tact would be needed, for
should he succeed in stopping the slave trade, while wars were still
waged among the chiefs, it might well come to pass that, for want of a
market, the prisoners would, in such a case, be slaughtered. Should he
find it needful to exercise a real control over any of these tribes, it
will be better to leave to the chieftains the direct government. Their
obedience must be secured by making them dread his power.

He made the journey to Khartoum without any mishap or serious difficulty,
reaching there in May, 1874, and was installed in office on the fifth. A
royal salute from the government house guns was fired in honour of this
event; the new Governor-General was, of course, expected to make a
speech, after the order of his predecessors. But all he said was, "With
the help of God I will hold the balance level." This was received with
the greatest enthusiasm, for it evidently pleased the people more than if
he had addressed them for an hour. His attention was soon dir