k of him as seen in the Soudan, but they
are so graphic, that it requires little imagination to see the man
before us a few years younger. At the age of thirty, he was of course
much younger looking; but his general appearance was not one that
changed much. Considering the hardships through which he passed, it was
wonderful how little he exhibited their effects. It will be remarked
that in both of the foregoing descriptions reference is made to his
blue eyes, which certainly were a very prominent feature in his
personality. If we may anticipate events a little, as we are
considering this subject, it is interesting to record that a little
native boy named Capsune, whom General Gordon rescued from the
slave-dealers in 1870, asked the lady who had charge of him after
Gordon's death whether she was quite sure that Gordon Pasha still kept
his blue eyes, and did she think he could "see all through me now?"
Another day he said he was "quite sure Gordon Pasha could see quite
well in the dark, because he had the light inside him."

* * *

This, then, is the man whom the fortunes of war called to fill about as
difficult a position as it is possible to imagine. The enemy he was to
disperse were flushed with victory, having for years been able to defy
all who had attempted to suppress them. Their numbers were overwhelming
as compared with the handful of men the merchants of Shanghai were able
out of their private resources to put into the field; and, as if these
were not sufficient advantages, they had possession of all the large
cities and places of importance for many miles outside the thirty-miles
radius around Shanghai. The army Gordon was called upon to command
possessed a high-sounding name, justly earned by a former commander,
but with his death had passed away all that made the title justifiable.
It was a relic of greatness that had departed, and to one like Gordon,
who had a keen sense of humour, it must have sounded ridiculous in the
extreme. The army consisted of about 3000 Chinese, with 150 officers,
the latter being principally foreigners. The officers were by no means
wanting in pluck, nor deficient in military skill, but there appears to
have been a great want of discipline among them, to say nothing of the
existence of keen jealousies of one another. The fact that in one month
eleven officers died of _delirium tremens_ speaks volumes as to their
character. Colonel Chesney says,