This was the state of the country when I arrived at Khartoum. The population of this town, which was about 30,000 during my former visit, was now reduced to half the number. The European residents had all disappeared, with the exception of the Austrian Mission, and Mr. Hansall the Austrian Consul; also an extremely tough German tailor, who was proof against the climate that had carried off his companions. I had given the necessary orders for vessels and supplies six months previous; thus, I naturally expected to find a fleet ready for departure, with the troops and stores waiting for instructions. To my surprise, I discovered that my orders had been so far neglected, that although the troops were at hand, there were no vessels prepared for transport. I was coolly informed by the governor-general that "it was impossible to procure the number of vessels required, therefore he had purchased a house for me, as he expected that I should remain that year at Khartoum, and start in the following season." There literally was not one vessel ready for the voyage, in spite of the positive instructions that had been given. At the same time I found that the governor-general had just prepared a squadron of eleven vessels, with several companies of regular troops, for an expedition to the Bahr Gazal, where it was intended to form a settlement at the copper-mines on the frontier of Darfur. This expedition had been placed under the command of one of the most notorious ruffians and slave-hunters of the White Nile. This man, Kutchuk Ali, originally of low extraction, had made a fortune in his abominable traffic, and had accordingly received promotion from the governor; thus, at the same time that the Khedive of Egypt had employed me to suppress the slave trade of the Nile, a government expedition had been intrusted to the command of one of the most notorious slave-hunters. I at once perceived that not only was my expedition unpopular, but that it would be seriously opposed by all parties. The troops had been quartered for some months at Khartoum; during this time the officers had been intimate with the principal slave-traders of the country. All were Mohammedans--thus a coalition would be natural against a Christian who commanded an expedition avowedly to annihilate the slave trade upon which Khartoum subsisted. It was a "house divided against itself;" the Khedive in the north issued orders that would be neutralized in the distant south by his own authorities. As in the United States of America the opinion of the South upon the question of emancipation was opposed to that of the North,--the opposition in Soudan was openly avowed to the reform believed to have been suggested to the Khedive by England.