volume 2, chapter 12-18.

"First, it was said that our troops would be before the gates of Khartoum on January 14th; next it was the middle of February; and then the time stretched out to the middle of March. ... Lord Wolseley offered a hundred pounds to the regiment covering the distance from Sarras to Debbeh most expeditiously and with least damage to boats. ... He also dispatched Sir Herbert Stewart on the immortal march to Gakdul. Stewart's force, composed principally of the Mounted Infantry and Camel Corps, and led by a troop of the 19th Hussars, acting as scouts--numbering about 1,100 in all--set out from Korti on December 30th. Its destination was about 100 miles from headquarters, and about 80 from the Nile at Shendy. {768} The enterprise, difficult and desperate as it was, was achieved with perfect success. ... On the 17th January Sir Herbert Stewart engaged the enemy on the road to Metemneh, and after defeating some 10,000 Arabs--collected from Berber, Metemneh, and Omdurman--pushed forward to the Abu Klea Wells. His tactics were much the same as those of General Graham at Elteb, and those of the Mahdi's men--of attacking when thirst and fatigue had well-nigh prostrated the force--were at all points similar to those adopted against Hicks. Our losses were 65 non-commissioned officers and men killed and 85 wounded, with 9 officers killed--among them Colonel Burnaby--and 9 wounded. Stewart at once pushed on for Metemneh and the Nile. He left the Wells on the 18th January to occupy Metemneh, if possible, but, failing that, to make for the Nile and entrench himself. After a night's march, some five miles south of Metemneh, the column found itself in presence of an enemy said to have been about 18,000 strong. Stewart halted and formed a zareba under a deadly fire. He himself was mortally hurt in the groin, and Mr. Cameron, of the Standard, and Mr. Herbert, of the Morning Post, were killed. The zareba completed, the column advanced in square, and the Arabs, profiting by Abu Klea, moved forward in echelon, apparently with the purpose of charging. At thirty yards or so they were brought to bay, so terrific was the fire from the square, and so splendidly served was Norton's artillery. For two hours the battle raged; and then the Arabs, 'mown down in heaps,' gave way. Meantime Sir Charles Wilson had made a dash for the Nile, where he found steamers and reinforcements from Gordon, and the laconic message, 'An right at Khartoum. Can hold out for years.' ... In the joy at the good news, none had stopped to consider the true meaning of the message, 'All right. Can hold out for years,' for none was aware that nearly two months before Gordon had said he had just provisions enough for 40 days, and that what he really meant was that he had come to his last biscuit. The message--which was written for the enemy--was dated December 20, and Sir Charles Wilson would reach Khartoum on January 28, just a month after its despatch. ... The public, carefully kept in ignorance ... and hopeful beyond their wont, were simply stupefied to hear, on February 5, that Khartoum was in the hands of the Mahdi and Gordon captured or dead."

_A. E. Hake, The Story of Chinese Gordon,