The Four Feathers · Chapter
VII: The Last Reconnaissance explained
Durrance leads a final reconnaissance mission in the eastern Sudan before evacuation.
What happens
Durrance leads a final reconnaissance mission in the eastern Sudan before evacuation. The detachment crosses the plateau of Sinkat, encounters the ruins of Tewfik Bey's fort, and discovers a hidden Arab named Abou Fatma, who reveals he was Gordon's servant and carries a letter from Gordon hidden in Berber. Durrance reflects on Gordon's legacy and his own connection to the land, while Mather looks forward to returning to London.
Themes in this chapter
Duty and Career
Durrance's commitment to his military duty and his desire to return to the Sudan to finish the work.
Memory and Regret
Durrance's reflections on Gordon's lonely struggle and the regret that help did not arrive in time.
Isolation and Loneliness
The desolate landscape and Gordon's isolation are echoed in Durrance's solitary thoughts.
Characters to notice
- Durrance
Leads the reconnaissance, reflects on Gordon's fate and his own affinity for the Sudan.
- Captain Mather
Accompanies Durrance, shares his thoughts on returning to London.
- Abou Fatma
A Kababish Arab, former servant of Gordon, who delivers news of a hidden letter.
- General Gordon
Mentioned as the author of the hidden letter, his memory haunts Durrance.
Key passages
“He was Gordon’s servant in Khartum. At the beginning of 1884, eighteen months ago in fact, Gordon gave him a letter which he was to take to Berber, whence the contents were to be telegraphed to Cairo.”
Abou Fatma was Gordon's servant in Khartum, and in early 1884 Gordon entrusted him with a letter to be delivered to Berber for telegraphing to Cairo.
Durrance recounts the story of the letter to Mather.
“A letter from Gordon, scribbled perhaps upon the rooftop of his palace, by the side of his great telescope—a sentence written in haste, and his eye again to the lens, searching over the palm trees for the smoke of the steamers—and it comes down the Nile to be buried in a mud wall in Berber.”
Durrance imagines Gordon writing the letter hastily on his rooftop, then the letter traveling down the Nile only to be hidden in a wall in Berber.
Durrance's musing on the fate of Gordon's letter.
“If only they had let us go last year westward to the Nile. Before Khartum had fallen, before Berber had surrendered. But they would not.”
Durrance laments that they were not allowed to advance to the Nile earlier, before Khartum and Berber were lost.
Durrance expresses regret over the missed opportunity.