aces
of the square. Their leaders soon saw the weak place in the defence,
namely, at one of the rear corners, where belated skirmishers were still
running in for shelter, where also one of the guns jammed at the
critical moment. One of their Emirs, calmly reciting his prayers, rode
in through the gap thus formed, and for ten minutes bayonet and spear
plied their deadly thrusts at close quarters. Thanks to the firmness of
the British infantry, every Arab that forced his way in perished; but in
this _melee_ there perished a stalwart soldier whom England could ill
spare, Colonel Burnaby, hero of the ride to Khiva. Lord Charles
Beresford, of the Naval Brigade, had a narrow escape while striving to
set right the defective cannon. In all we lost 65 killed and 60 wounded,
a proportion which tells its own tale as to the fighting[404].

[Footnote 404: Sir C.W. Wilson, _From Korti to Khartum_, pp. 28-35; also
see Hon. R. Talbot's article on "Abu Klea," in the _Nineteenth Century_
for January 1886.]

Two days later, while the force was beating off an attack of the Arabs
near Metammeh, General Stewart received a wound which proved to be
mortal. The command now devolved on Sir Charles Wilson of the Royal
Engineers. After repelling the attacks of other Mahdists and making good
his position on the Nile, the new commander came into touch with
Gordon's steamers, which arrived there on the 21st, with 190 Sudanese.
Again, however, the advance of other Arabs from Omdurman caused a delay
until a fortified camp or zariba could be formed. Wilson now had but
1322 unwounded men; and he saw that the Mahdists were in far greater
force than Lord Wolseley or General Gordon had expected. Not until
January 24 could the commander steam away southwards with 20 men of the
Sussex regiment and the 190 Sudanese soldiers on the two largest of
Gordon's boats--his "penny steamers" as he whimsically termed them.

The sequel is well known. After overcoming many difficulties caused by
rocks and sandbanks, after running the gauntlet of the Mahdist fire,
this forlorn hope neared Khartum on the 28th, only to find that the
place had fallen. There was nothing for it but to put about and escape
while it was possible. Sir Charles Wilson has described the scene: "The
masses of the enemy with their fluttering banners near Khartum, the long
rows of riflemen in the shelter-trenches at Omdurman, the numerous
groups of men on Tuti [Island], the bursting of shells, and the