His task, though difficult and, as it ultimately proved, impossible, was clearly defined.  ‘You will bear in mind,’ wrote Sir Evelyn Baring, ‘that the main end to be pursued is the evacuation of the Soudan.’  ‘The object. . . of your mission to the Soudan,’ declared the Khedive, ’is to carry into execution the evacuation of those territories and to withdraw our troops, civil officials, and such of the inhabitants . . . as may wish to leave for Egypt. . . and after the evacuation to take the necessary steps for establishing an organised Government in the different provinces.’  Nor was he himself under any misconception.  He drew up a memorandum when on board the Tanjore in which he fully acquiesced in the evacuation of the Soudan.  In a sentence which breathes the same spirit as Mr. Gladstone’s famous expression, ’a people rightly struggling to be free,’ he wrote:  ’I must say that it would be an iniquity to conquer these peoples and then hand them back to the Egyptians without guarantees of future good government.’  Finally, he unhesitatingly asserted:  ’No one who has ever lived in the Soudan can escape the reflection “What a useless possession is this land!"’ And Colonel Stewart, who accompanied him and endorsed the memorandum, added:  ’And what a huge encumbrance to Egypt!’ Thus far there was complete agreement between the British envoy and the Liberal Cabinet.

It is beyond the scope of these pages to describe his long ride across the desert from Korosko to Abu Hamed, his interview with the notables at Berber, or his proclamation of the abandonment of the Soudan, which some affirm to have been an important cause of his ruin.  On the 22nd of February he arrived at Khartoum.  He was received with rejoicing by the whole population.  They recognised again their just Governor-General and their present deliverer.  Those who had been about to fly for the north took fresh heart.  They believed that behind the figure of the envoy stood the resources of an Empire.  The Mahdi and the gathering Dervishes were perplexed and alarmed.  Confusion and hesitancy disturbed their councils and delayed their movements.  Gordon had come.  The armies would follow.  Both friends and foes were deceived.  The great man was at Khartoum, but there he would remain—­alone.

Whatever confidence the General had felt in the power of his personal influence had been dispelled on the journey to Khartoum.  He had no more illusions.  His experienced eye reviewed the whole situation.  He saw himself confronted with a tremendous racial movement.  The people of the Soudan had risen against foreigners.  His only troops were Soudanese.  He was himself a foreigner.  Foremost among the leaders of the revolt were the Arab slave dealers, furious at the attempted suppression of their trade.  No one, not even Sir Samuel Baker, had tried harder to suppress it than Gordon.  Lastly, the whole movement had assumed a fanatical character.  Islam marched against the infidel.  Gordon was a Christian.