Lord Kitchener, then, took with him to Africa the prestige of a great name, the reputation of continual success, and the habit of handling large masses of troops. No living English general, not even Lord Roberts, had ever had under him in war so many troops as Lord Kitchener led into the field in 1898, when he marched to Omdurman 8,200 British and 17,600 Egyptian soldiers, with sixty-four field guns and Maxims. Last, but not least, Lord Kitchener had seen little of the mischievous kind of fooling which at Aldershot, under the specious guise of Field Days, served rather to render our generals inexpert and our soldiers careless of the methods of war, than to familiarise them with something approaching the real conditions of battle. His training had been that of actual war, his power of organisation was undoubted, and even his bitterest detractors had to confess that he was a successful leader. But what, perhaps, most recommended him to his country was his seriousness of purpose and his concentration of aim. His very face bore in every line the look of iron resolution, of a spirit which fears nothing and calculates everything. And that, perhaps, was why the swift genius of Mr. Steevens christened him "the machine." For he rose superior to the accidents of fortune and the tragedies of life; nothing seemed to shake his coolness or weaken his purpose. Here was a general who would never show the not ignoble weakness which wrecks so many would-be leaders--the unwillingness to incur losses, the inward rebellion against sending brave, devoted men to death. Yet that his nature was not without a strain of sentiment was proved by that strange commemoration service, held on the scene of Gordon's death, in sight of the still reeking battlefield of Omdurman, which set the seal upon the purpose of ten long years, and to some extent obliterated the shame felt by his countrymen for the death of that noble man. The interest which attached to Kitchener's personality was enhanced by the fact that he was something of a riddle to his countrymen, who suspected that under the outer veil of iciness which marked him, as it marked Moltke, lay concealed the warmer qualities of the heart. [Illustration: ARRIVAL OF LORDS ROBERTS AND KITCHENER AT CAPE TOWN, January 4, 1900.] [Sidenote: DEC. 23, 1899.] _The New Generals hasten out._] [Sidenote: Embarkation for South Africa.]