I fully expected a difficulty with the natives when we should attempt to
drive the herd of strange cattle through the jungle path to Gondokoro. I
therefore determined to make a reconnaissance of the neighbourhood when
the men should have finished their breakfast, in order to drive the
Baris from the vicinity, and thus obtain a fair start for the cattle.
Leaving one company to protect the stockade and captured cattle, I took
the remaining three companies and the gun, and extending the line in
open order, with skirmishers thrown out in front and the gun in the
centre, we advanced through the country.
A large river bed, now almost dry, with very abrupt banks, lay on our
left. The wood became thinner, and we suddenly emerged upon a broad,
open valley or plain, which was bounded on our right by the high
mountain of Belinian, about a mile and a half distant.
The plain was covered with villages, and the entire country was green
with cultivation, the dhurra being then about two feet high. The
gun-carriage ran easily over the flat ground, and we advanced rapidly
forward, the Baris clearing out of their villages and gathering on our
flanks as we approached.
