Sometimes the horses
sank nearly hock-deep in mud, which in the pitch darkness they could not
avoid. In such places it required the force of thirty men to drag the
gun, and the delays became serious. Lieutenant-Colonel Tayib Agha
commanded the three companies of Soudani troops who escorted the
field-piece, and took it in turns to assist the artillerymen in the
weary work of dragging the gun through swamps and bush.
The night wore on; it began to rain. I was riding in advance with
Lieutenant Baker, Mr. Higginbotham, and twenty of the "Forty Thieves,"
while Raouf Bey followed me with fifty Egyptian troops. It was
absolutely necessary to push on. Tayib Agha had a native guide,
therefore he and his gun could take care of themselves. Accordingly I
pushed on ahead as an advanced guard, delighted to be quit of the
impediment of artillery.
In about an hour we arrived at firm ground, and the country became more
open and undulating. The clouds began to break and the rain ceased. We
pushed briskly forward until, after marching at the pace of four miles
per hour, the guide, Sherroom, suddenly halted. We were now in a clear
space where a few large trees grew in a clump upon our right.
