"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." Again he writes:-- _Dec. 14th_, _1884_. "This may be the last letter you will receive from me, for we are on our last legs, owing to the delay of the expedition. However, God rules all, and I know He will rule to His glory and our welfare. I fear that, owing to circumstances, my affairs pecuniarily are not over bright. Your affectionate brother, C. G. GORDON." P.S.--"I am very happy, thank God, and, like Lawrence, 'I have tried to do my duty.'" Meanwhile, Gordon is thus hemmed in. General Wolseley and his noble band are on their way to his relief. Many and peculiar are the difficulties of both climate, country, and foes; yet they face them like brave, true Englishmen. The journey from Cairo to Ambukol, a distance of more than one thousand miles, had been traversed without serious opposition. From here, however, as they near Khartoum, now about two hundred and fifty miles, taking the nearest desert route. Lord Wolseley seems here to halt and hesitate, whether it is best to go by the Nile, which, as shown on a map, takes a bend, forming the shape of a letter 'S' nearly; or whether to take the shortest cut and risk the opposition that may be expected. He eventually decides that the Camel Corps and a portion of the Infantry shall take the short cut; the desert route to Metemmeh: the rest to go by the Nile. It is evidently Wolseley's wish to punish the tribes who murdered Stewart, and his companions; so he orders the South Staffordshire, 38th, and the Royal Sussex, 35th, and the Black Watch, 42nd, to advance to Abu Hamed, which lies at the northern bend of the 'S,' which the Nile makes between Dongola and Metemmeh.