Canadian Voyageurs Begin Nile River Expedition: A Mission to Rescue a British

Canadian Voyageurs Begin Nile River Expedition: A Mission to Rescue a British Major in Distress


## The Nile Gambit 
September 14, 1884 

Dawn leaked grey light over the Nile's banks. Forty-six Canadian voyageurs stood knee-deep in crocodile water, calloused hands gripping cedar canoes. Their orders: navigate 600 miles of cataracts to rescue Major-General Charles Gordon, besieged in Khartoum. 

Egyptian soldiers watched, bewildered. These weren't British redcoats but lumberjacks and trappers from Manitoba's frozen rivers. Their leader, Colonel Frederick Denison, adjusted his pith helmet as the men loaded Winchesters alongside paddles. 

**The Impossible Currents** 
- *Cataract Six:* Voyageur Joseph Labelle vanished when whirlpools capsized his canoe. No body recovered. 
- *Sandstorm Ambush:* Mahdist warriors attacked at Abu Hamad. Voyageurs returned fire from rocking canoes, using paddles as stabilizers. 
- *Fever:* Twelve men fell to malaria by Wadi Halfa. They carved grave markers from shattered gunwales. 

Gordon's last message reached them at Korti: *"Do not come.*" They pressed onward. 

**Aftermath** 
The voyageurs reached Metemma on January 28, 1885—two days after Khartoum fell. Gordon's head adorned a rebel spear. 

Ottawa paid each survivor $1.25/day. 
Britain awarded no medals. 
The Nile's rapids swallowed seventeen Canadians. 

Their legacy: proof that courage floats downstream toward futility.