n was a much-hated man among the oppressor class, as
reformers of deep-seated abuses usually are; but he knew that the weak
and helpless at all events would appreciate him. When Wilberforce, the
great slavery abolitionist, was accused by an opponent of interference
with the rights of man, he asked what those rights were, and received
for answer, "The right that every man has to lick his own nigger!" To
rights of this kind, however long established, Gordon was an inveterate
enemy; his object was to show that the weak and the helpless had rights
as well as their oppressors, and in this he succeeded to a marvellous
extent. "My great desire," said he, "is to be a shelter to the people,
to ease their burdens, and to soften their hard lot in these
inhospitable lands." And again:--

"I have an enormous province to look after; but it is a great
blessing to me to know that God has undertaken the administration
of it, and it is His work, and not mine. If I fail, it is His will;
if I succeed, it is His work certainly. He has given me the joy of
not regarding the honours of this world, and to value my union with
Him above all things. May I be humbled to the dust and fail, so
that He may glorify Himself. The greatness of my position only
depresses me, and I cannot help wishing that the time had come when
He will lay me aside and use some other worm to do His work."

Besides putting an end to cruelty and injustice, he introduced into
Khartoum a system of water supply. But important as his work at
Khartoum was, he was on May 19 compelled to leave, a revolt having
broken out at Darfour, where his immediate presence was required. So
off he went on his camel into the very heart of the slave-hunting
district. Writing from Fogia, on the frontier of Darfour, he says:--

"I have a splendid camel--none like it; it flies along, and quite
astonishes the Arabs. I came flying into this station in marshal's
uniform, and before the men had time to unpile arms, I had arrived
with only one man with me. I could not help it; the escort did not
come in for an hour and a half afterwards. The Arab chief who was
with me said it was the telegraph.... It is fearful to see the
Governor-General arrayed in gold clothes flying along like a
madman, with only a guide, as if he was pursued.... Specks had been
seen in the vast plain around the station moving towards it (like
Jehu's advance