A ‘bird’s-eye’ map of the Gordon Relief Mission, 1884

A rare broadsheet map on the Nile, looking south from Abukir to Khartoum in Sudan, presented as a bird's-eye view. Three inset views show the progress of General Garnet Wolseley,'s forces up the Nile, on paddle steamer and camels. During the Mahdi revolt of Muhammad Ahmad against Egypt, General Charles Gordon (1833-85) was sent to evacuate the Egyptian garrisons from Khartoum in Sudan with a well-equipped army, as depicted here. However local tribes unexpectedly joined the rebels and Gordon found himself under siege. Because of public regard for Gordon, a relief expedition was quickly mounted. Travelling up the Nile, it came under attack but managed to continue. Wolsey decided to split his troops, sending 2,400 men on camels on a shortcut through the desert, while the remaining 3,000 men struggled up the river, often having to drag their boats over rapids. The force arrived on the 28th January, 1885, to find Gordon and his garrison had been slaughtered only two days earlier.