"My fixed desire is to persuade the Chinese not to go to war with Russia, both in their own interests, and for the sake of those of the world, especially those of England. To me it appears that the question in dispute cannot be of such vital importance that an arrangement could not be come to, by concessions upon both sides. Whether I succeed in being heard or not is not in my hands. I protest, however, at being regarded as one who wishes for war in any country, still less in China. Inclined as I am, with only a small degree of admiration for military exploits, I esteem it a far greater honour to promote peace than to gain any paltry honours in a wretched war." As a matter of fact Gordon did succeed in convincing the Government at Pekin of the advisability of coming to terms with its opponent, and thus once more he rendered China an invaluable service. In his earnest advocacy he appears to have used such emphatic language that the interpreter dared not repeat it, so Gordon seized a dictionary, looked up the word "idiotcy," and pointed it out to them. Far better was it, in Gordon's opinion, to ruffle the self-esteem of a few bigwigs, than to allow two great nations to drift into a war which, after an enormous sacrifice of life and much suffering, must have ended fatally for the Chinese, who were quite unable to meet the trained hordes of Russia. CHAPTER XIII MAURITIUS, CAPE, AND PALESTINE Gordon left China immediately he had saved that country from war, arriving in England on October 21, 1880. From then till about the end of the following April he spent on leave. During this month the post of officer commanding Royal Engineers at the Mauritius fell vacant, and two officers to whom the command was offered retired rather than go to Mauritius. Sir Howard Elphinstone was then offered the command, and would also probably have retired, but Colonel Gordon offered to go for him, and refused any money on account of the exchange, though usually L700 or L800 was paid for an exchange of this kind. Yet Gordon was so poor that he had actually to borrow the money to pay for his passage when he went from India to China a few months before this! He left England for the Mauritius on the 2nd May, travelling _via_ the Suez Canal and Aden.