=The Dongola Expedition.=--The Dongola expedition took place in 1896, and for this the Khedive of Egypt ordered a medal to be issued to all the British and native troops who served at, and south of, Sarras between March 30th and September 23rd, 1896, and at Suakin under Brigadier-General Egerton during the same period. Two bars were awarded; one inscribed HAFIR for services south of Fareia on September 29th, and the other FIRKET for those engaged south of Akashen on June 7th, each name being inscribed in English and Arabic on a single bar. The medal bears on the reverse an oval shield, charged with three crescents, and stars above, backed by a trophy of arms and flags, and a panel below bearing an inscription in Arabic reading "The recovery of the Sudan, 1314 H." On the obverse is the cypher of the Khedive Abbas Hilmi II, and ~1314 H.--A.D. 1897~. It is suspended from an orange-coloured watered ribbon, with a broad blue stripe down the centre, by means of a straight clasp. The medal was issued unnamed; bronze medals without bars were issued to camp followers and non-combatants. This being a foreign decoration it was necessary for Queen Victoria to give her troops permission to wear the medal. The first British regiment to receive it was the 1st Batt. North Staffordshires. Later the following regiments received the medal without bars, which were added afterwards: 1st Seaforth and Cameron Highlanders; half a battalion of the 1st Lincolns; 21st Lancers; a detachment of the 16th Company Eastern Division R.A.; 32nd Field Battery R.A.; 2nd Company Royal Engineers. To those who took part in the operations at and about Kerma, on the Nile, in 1897, the Khedive's medal was given with a bar inscribed SUDAN 1897, and to those who were engaged at and near Assouan and Abu-Hamed the medal with bar for ABU-HAMED was awarded; the bars only being issued to those already in possession of the medal.