It is clear that the words "Khartoum all right" were simply intended to deceive in the event of the written communication getting into the wrong hands. This became evident later on from a letter which Gordon wrote to a friend in Cairo at the same date as he penned the words "Khartoum all right," but which did not arrive till the month of February. "All is up," he said; "I expect a catastrophe in ten days' time. It would not have been so if our people had kept me better informed as to their intentions. My adieux to all. C. G. Gordon."
The latter part of the verbal message is significant, and seems to imply that Gordon anticipated that if the approach of the troops were to become known, the treachery which he had all along expected would be accelerated.
It is scarcely necessary to say that only the written portion of Gordon's communication, viz., "Khartoum all right," was disclosed to the British public, who thus formed a very erroneous opinion as to his real position.
It does not appear that Wolseley's plans were changed by the receipt of Gordon's message; there was, in fact, nothing to be done but to push on with all possible speed.
On the 8th January Stewart, having strengthened his column, again set out for Gakdul.
On the 10th, the force reached the Hambok wells, whence Stewart pushed forward to Howeiyah. On arriving there it was found that the Engineers and Mounted Infantry, left behind on the previous journey, had sunk several holes to a depth of nine feet or so in the rough gravel soil near a dry watercourse, and that some of these holes contained about six inches of cold opal-coloured water with a chalybeate taste. Unfortunately the holes in question had been practically drained a couple of hours before by the men of the previous convoy; so that Stewart's troops had to content themselves with only a quart per head for the entire day.
Resuming their forward march, they reached a grassy plain to the south of the Galif range shortly after sunset, and here they bivouacked until the following morning. A fresh start was then made, but the heat and excessive thirst were beginning to tell both on men and camels, thirty of the latter dropping dead on the road. However, the column persevered in its course, and the wells of Abu Haifa were reached at three in the afternoon. Pannikins, canteens, water-bottles, and horse-buckets were soon at work, the men taking their turn until their thirst was quenched.
Early on the 12th the column was astir, and at eleven o'clock it defiled along a rocky gorge into the crater-like amphitheatre where the Gakdul reservoirs were situated. Here was found the force left to guard the wells when Stewart returned to Korti. It was ascertained that more wells were to be found across the hills at a distance of a mile or two, but the three natural receptacles at Gakdul itself were computed to contain among them nearly half-a-million gallons of water, so that for military purposes the supply was regarded as practically inexhaustible.
Colonel Burnaby arrived at Gakdul on the 13th with a convoy of grain. The following day, the march towards Abu Klea was resumed, Major Kitchener going back to Korti, and Colonel Vandeleur being left with 400 of the Sussex Regiment at Gakdul to hold that station, whilst the Guards who had previously protected the wells joined the column. The force was composed as follows—Three troops 19th Hussars; Naval Brigade, one Gardner gun; half battery Royal Artillery, i.e., three (7-pounder) screw-guns; Heavy Camel Regiment; Guards' Camel Regiment; Mounted Infantry, Camel Regiment; Sussex Regiment; Naval Brigade Royal Engineers; Transport and Medical Corps; in all 1,581 men with 90 horses, 2,880 camels, and 340 drivers.
Beyond Gakdul, the road led across a more barren region than that which had been previously traversed. Only ten miles were covered on the afternoon of the 14th.