Gordon book

tZhe (Borbons as Campaigners |
in Hfvica. 1
TN the mighty task of annexing Africa, this country owes a deep debt
to the House of Gordon. The campaign which has just finished,
and in which five members of the Duke of Richmond's family took
part, affords a useful opportunity for remembering the fact. It was a
Gordon, namely, Robert Jacob Gordon, who delivered up South
Africa to us in 1795, when he and his Dutch rag-tag and bob-tail army
surrendered to our army ; while in the north of the Black Conti-
nent the world will never forget the inspiring work of " Chinese "
Gordon of Khartum. The fates of the two men were curiously tragic.
The Dutchman at the Cape, who was as much worried by slimness
as we have been, committed suicide in 1795 ; while the fate which
overtook " Chinese " Gordon at Khartum makes him pre-eminently
the imperial martyr of the nineteenth century. I may note in passing
that though nobody has settled "Chinese" Gordon's ancestry, the
probability is that he was descended from the Gordons of Binhall,
near Huntly, who were tenants of the Dukes of Gordon.
It would be very difficult to catalogue all the soldiers bearing
the historic name of Gordon who have fought in Africa from first to
last. In addition to Robert Jacob Gordon, who was a Dutchman,
and who will always be remembered as the discoverer of the Orange
River, one may recall as his namesake, Robert James Gordon, who
was a captain in our navy, and paid the penalty of his hazard in South
Africa with his life. He was the third son of Captain Gordon of
Everton, near Bawtry, Doncaster. His plan was to explore the Blue
Nile from Sennaar ; but he never got a start, for he died at Wilet
Medinet, a few days' journey from Sennaar, 27th September, 1822 —