could not
help wishing, to himself, that the missing heir might turn up in time
to disappoint him.

General Hunter started next day, at noon, with two of his brigades and
the mounted troops; the other two brigades following, at nightfall. The
previous night had been one of the most unpleasant Gregory had ever
spent. The long-expected rain had come at last. It began suddenly;
there was a flash of lightning, and then came a violent burst of wind,
which tore down the tents and the flimsy shelters of the Egyptians and
Soudanese. Before this had ceased, the rain poured down in a torrent;
lightning, wind, and rain kept on till morning, and when the start was
made, everyone was soaked to the skin. The Egyptian baggage left at the
same time, in native craft.

That evening they arrived at the mouth of the Shabluka Cataract. Here
it had been expected that the advance would be opposed, as strong forts
had been erected by the enemy, the river narrowed greatly, and
precipitous rocks rose on either side. Through these the course was
winding, and the current ran with great strength, the eddies and sharp
bends making it extremely difficult for the gunboats to keep their
course. Indeed, it would have been impossible for them to get up, had
the forts been manned; as they would have had to pass within two
hundred yards of the guns. But although the forts could hardly have
been attacked by the gunboats, they were commanded by a lofty hill
behind them; and the scouts had discovered, some weeks before, that the
Dervishes had retired from the position, and that the passage would be
unopposed.

Maxwell's and Colville's brigades started at four that afternoon, and
the next day the whole division was established at El Hejir, above the
cataracts.

Lyttleton's brigade started, at five o'clock A.M. on the 25th, the
gunboats and other steamers moving parallel with them along the river.
At five in the afternoon the first brigade followed and, two days
afterwards, the camp was entirely evacuated, and the whole of the
stores well on their way towards El Hejir. On the previous day, two
regiments of Wortley's column of friendly natives also marched south.
The Sirdar and headquarters, after having seen everything off, went up
in a gunboat, starting at nine in the morning.

As usual, the Soudanese troops had been accompanied by a considerable
number of their wives, who were heavily laden with their little
household goods, and in many cases babies. T