“There is a better thing on earth than wealth, a better thing than life itself, and that is to have done something before you die, for which good men may honour you, and God your Father smile upon your work.”
—Geo. Macdonald.
The last Arab messenger that came from Khartoum before it fell, said, “Gordon goes every morning at sunrise to the top of his Palace wall, and with his large field glass, sweeps the horizon as far as possible, and notes as clearly as may be the position of the Madhi’s forces, which now surrounded the City. As night falls, he visits the men at their various stations, to give them advice, or encouragement, as the case might be deemed necessary. In the daytime he studies his maps and reads his Bible, and a work on “Holy living,” by Thomas à Kempis, and preserves such a faith in God as inspired all around him with a courage akin to his own.
“He held the city, he so long
Faithful mid falterers, mid much weakness strong,
Upon those ramparts now he fought, he planned,
That Citadel was by one true man well manned.”
A letter from Kitchener reached Gordon, which raised his hopes and considerably brightened his prospects for the time being. It ran thus:—
“Dear General Gordon.—Mr. Edgerton has asked me to send you the following:—‘August 30th. Tell Gordon steamers are being passed over the Second Cataracts, and that we wish to be informed through Dongola exactly when he expects to be in difficulties as to provision and ammunition.’ Message ends—“Lord Wolseley is coming out to command; the 35th regiment is now being sent from Halfa to Dongola. Sir E. Wood is at Halfa, General Earle, Dormer, Buller, and Freemantle are coming up the Nile with troops. I think an expedition will be sent across from here to Khartoum, while another goes with steamers to Berber. A few words about what you wish to be done would be acceptable.”
In Gordon’s journal he says:—“My view is this as to the operations of British forces. I will put three steamers each with two guns on them, and an armed force of infantry at
the disposal of any British authority; will send these steamers to either Methemma opposite Shendy, or to the cataract below Berber to meet there any British force which may come across country to the Nile. . . . I cannot too much impress upon you that this expedition will not encounter any enemy worth the name in a European sense of the word; the struggle is with the climate and destitution of the country. It is one of time and patience, and of small parties of determined men backed by native allies, which are to be got by policy and money. . . . It is the country of the irregular, not of the regular. If you move in mass you will find no end of difficulties; whereas if you let detached parties dash out here and there, you will spread dismay in the Arab camps. The time to attack is the dawn, or rather before it, but sixty men would put the Arabs to flight just before dawn, while one thousand would not accomplish in daylight. The reason is that the strength of the Arabs is in their horsemen, who do not dare to act in the dark. I do hope that you will not drag on the artillery, it will only cause delay and do no good.”
November 5th, 1884.
“Your kind letter, August 7th, came yesterday. We have the Madhi close to us, but the Arabs are very quiet. . . . . Terrible news—I hear the steamer I sent down with Stewart, Power, and Herbin (French Consul) has been captured and all are killed. I cannot understand it—whether an act of treachery by someone, or struck on a rock, it is to me unaccountable, for she was well armed and had a gun with her; if she is lost, so is the journal of events from Jan. 3rd, 1884, to Sept. 10th, 1884. A huge volume illustrated and full of interest. I have put my steamers at Metemma to wait for the troops. I am very well but very gray, with the continual strain upon my nerves. I have been putting the Sheikh-el-Islam and Cadi in prison; they were suspected of writing to the Madhi. I let them out yesterday. I am very grieved for the relatives of Stewart, Power, and Herbin.”