Though peace had been restored to Egypt by our arms, and security of life and property was being established and upheld by the presence in the country of the army of occupation, new troubles were brewing in the upper waters of the Nile. General Gordon, as the representative of the Khedive in the far-away capital of the Soudan province of Upper Egypt, was endeavouring to maintain law and order in the midst of turbulent tribes of wild Arabs. Disaffection and rebellion against Egyptian authority broke out on all sides, and the first murmurings were heard of a new power emerging out of the African darkness, threatening to overwhelm and sweep before its fanatical sword every evidence of modern civilisation. The rise of the Mahdi as a religious and political force was one of the most extraordinary movements of modern times, and can only find a parallel in that of Mohammed himself, whose follower the Mahdi or Prophet of God professed to be. With a success at first truly marvellous, he managed so to impress his claims to sanctity upon the Arab tribes of the Soudan, that they flocked to his standard in thousands. {90} Cleverly seizing the occasion of discontent at excessive taxation and the destruction of the slave trade, which, under European influence, the Egyptian government had attempted, the Mahdi el Muntazer raised the cry of revolt, and openly proclaimed himself, by the grace of God and his Prophet, master of the country. His fanatical pretensions, carrying the weight of religious sanctity, bore down all opposition for a time. General Gordon was sent to stem the torrent, and reaching Khartoum on the 18th of February 1884, bravely held it against overwhelming numbers for eleven months. The British authorities who were responsible for Gordon's appointment, but who were unfortunately not equally alive to the danger of his position, resolved at length upon an expedition for his relief, to proceed by the Red Sea to the port of Suakim to operate in the Eastern Soudan, between the sea and the River Nile, where a number of Egyptian garrisons were being threatened by the rebellious tribes under Osman Digna. British troops in and about Cairo, Alexandria, and other stations were at once despatched under the command of Sir Gerald Graham to quell the disturbance. Wauchope, who had received the appointment from Lord Wolseley of Assistant-Adjutant and Quartermaster-General to the expedition, left England on short notice, and, accompanied by Sir Redvers Buller, arrived in the Red Sea towards the end of February, in time to take his share in active operations against the enemy, who were strongly fortified and in possession of Tokar. [Sidenote: Battle of El-Teb]