In the autumn came further rumours from the Soudan of the rising power of the Mahdi, and the danger with which General Gordon was threatened of being overwhelmed in the capture of Khartoum. It was now resolved that active and immediate steps should be taken in order if possible to relieve him, notwithstanding that the distance was great, and the road perilous, and to a great extent unknown. The Black Watch was called upon once more to undertake this difficult task, and officers and men responded to the call with enthusiastic delight. The regiment at Cairo numbered about 700, and at an inspection there by General Sir Garnet Wolseley on 16th September, he complimented Colonel Bayly and the officers and men under him on the highly efficient state in which they then were, and the pride with which the people of England had followed them in the gallant upholding of 'the honour of their splendid and historic regiment.' 'I do not think,' he continued, 'there will be much fighting in the coming campaign, but there will be very hard work, and I shall want you to show that you can work hard as well as fight. If there is any fighting to be done, I know that I have only to call on the Black Watch, and you will behave as you have always done.' [Sidenote: Relief of Khartoum] The sequel proved this to be a true forecast. The expedition was beset with difficulties from first to last, and the {93} labour involved was enormous--the pity of it being, that after all, the result was not commensurate with the cost, and was altogether disappointing. With Cairo as their starting-point and Khartoum as their goal, the intervening space of over fifteen hundred miles, with its sandy plains, its waste howling wilderness, held by hostile tribes of Arabs, had to be covered by our troops. This was a work of no ordinary kind, and involved not only skill in planning, but persevering toil in execution, which tried to the utmost the stuff our soldiers are made of. The Black Watch, led by such men as Colonels Green, Bayly, Kidston, Coveny, Eden, and Wauchope were a host in themselves, and abundantly justified the confidence reposed in them by the commander-in-chief. The expedition started on 5th October by rail to Assouan, where they hoped immediately to begin the ascent of the Nile by steamers and barges. Unfortunately, one or two cases of smallpox here broke out among the men of the 42nd, and the regiment was compelled to go into quarantine for four weeks. They pitched their camp within a palm-grove close to Assouan on the banks of the Nile, and the tedium of enforced idleness was relieved by preparation for the arduous task before them. Colonel Wauchope energetically exerted himself during these weeks, and in the off hours of drill encouraged the men not only in out-door sports of all kinds, but was active in getting up theatrical and other entertainments for their amusement. In this way the time passed