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Sit
rCGcue the E rjti= Sarricona and preserve the Rod Sea ports
on the Suez Canal India route. The Government had twice
cuggostod to Haring that General Charles Gordon nicht be able
to cope, with the situation, before the development of a prose
c3npcign in the Timga d the Pall Pall GR7,
atto to uond bim to
the $udan1 It his rather unstable character worts
dicrogardedt he was a fairly obvious choice since he had acted
as Covernor Ganerai of the Sudan fron 1874 to 18791 and was
suppoood to have conaiderablo influence over the native chiefs,
His exploits in China and other parts of the world had inopired
a fooling that he was particularly good at dealing with
tricky situations* On lot January 1884, Sir Samuel Baker
an explorer and Gordonta predecessor in the Sudan, wrote to
the Ti urging Gordon's employriont and against the abaudounont
of the Sudan« The Pail pall Gazette1, which had followed an
expansionist policy since t1, 'ß. Stead had become the editor in
18839 followed this up by an enthusiastic intorviour with Gordon
on hits return to England on 8th January from nolgium where he
had been arranging to work in the Congo. It in likely that
the w"hige in the Cabinet who were not averco to reconquest of
the Sudanq hoped that Gordon would ignore his instructions and
ýj Oludstona S. iota s4$ Granville to ßladctono
14th January 188k