own capital, Dubaga,
with the view of either winning over the troops to his service or
employing them against his own enemies. Gordon saw through this
proposal and withheld his consent, but his lieutenant, Nuehr Agha,
acted on his own responsibility, and moved with his force to Dubaga.
In a few weeks Gordon learnt that they were all, practically speaking,
prisoners, and that his already heavy enough task had been increased
by the necessity of rescuing them.

Gordon accordingly advanced in person to Mrooli, the nearest point to
Mtesa's capital without actually crossing his frontier, and as he had
with him a strong force of his newly-raised black contingent, he felt
confident of his capacity to punish Mtesa for any act of treachery,
and to annex, if necessary, his kingdom. But Gordon did not wish to
force a war on Mtesa, or to increase the burdens of the Nile dominion.
All he wanted was the restoration of the men detained at Dubaga, and
he soon received assurances that his presence, and the moral effect of
the force he had brought with him, would attain this result without
any necessity for fighting. As Gordon worded his complaint, it was a
case not of his wishing to annex Mtesa, but of Mtesa annexing his
soldiers.

Having satisfied himself that Mtesa was not willing to risk a quarrel,
General Gordon sent Nuehr Agha with ninety men to bring back the 140
men detained at Dubaga, and the task was accomplished without any
hitch or delay. This was due partly to the military demonstrations,
and partly also to a clever diplomatic move by Gordon, who wrote to
Mtesa expressing his readiness to recognise by treaty the independence
of Uganda, and to provide a safe-conduct for the King's ambassadors to
Cairo. At this time the late Dr Emin, who claimed to be an Arab and a
Mahommedan, was at Dubaga, but his influence on the course of events
was _nil_, and he and Gordon never met. After the return of the troops
Gordon commenced his retirement to the Nile, and after an arduous and
dangerous march of eighty miles through a swampy jungle beset by Kaba
Rega's tribesmen, who were able to throw their spears with accurate
aim for fifty yards, he succeeded in reaching Masindi without loss.
Then Gordon drew up a plan of campaign for the effectual subjugation
of Kaba Rega, but he did not wait to see it carried out, as the first
move could not be made until the grass was dry enough to burn. As soon
as that season arrived three columns were to ma