THE SOUDAN.

Manawatu Standard, Volume X, Issue 15, 16 June 1885, Page 2

THE SOUDAN.

A melancholy incident of the Soudan campaign is related by a contemporary. After the troops had arrived at Ghakdul wells, a rest was ordered. At 10 o'clock at night shots were heard m quick sue- , cession, and it need hardly be said thai each man very soon handled his rifle* Half-an-hour afterwards one of the Coldstream Guards was carried into the camp shot through the skull. He was alive, but unconscious. He had left the v camp to search for water m order to alleviate the sufferings of his comrades^ The sentry on duty seeing the dark figure crouching about naturally suspect* ed it wae one of the rebels and fired* The poor guardsman hastily turned towards his assilant, when a second shst struck him m the skull. Suspecting that something was wrong by the cry that broke almost m death from our comrade, the sentry immediately advanced, and found out his mistake, and brought his unfortunate messmate with all possible haste into camp, where he expired on the following morning. This was the fifth of the Guards who had been killed by the hands of hit comrades. Only ten days ago one on being challenged by a sentry remarked, " We are not speaking English," whenT he was at. once bayoneted through the ' heart.

A gentleman at Dongola, writing to fc friend at Dumfries, says : — " We have just got a most authentic account that Gordon's head was cut off and put on one of the chief buildings at Khartoum. - t This was kept secret from the news* ' papers for fear of exasperating the British public."