Added to this was the powerful reason
that I had only a few cows for milk, while the attraction of many
thousand head of cattle induced an attack on the camp at Gondokoro.
On the following morning before sunrise I rode up to camp to hear the
news. It appeared that the natives had actually surprised the sentries.
We had lost a corporal, killed; and a lieutenant and one soldier were
wounded by arrows.
The Baris and the Loquia had attacked in large force with the intention
of burning the station, as many were provided with flaming firebrands,
with which they had advanced bravely to the edge of the thorn fence. Had
the station not been protected by this defence it is probable that the
enemy might have succeeded in firing the houses.
As usual, the troops had fired badly. Such a fusilade as I had heard
should have covered the plain with dead. The officers and men declared
that great numbers of the enemy were killed, but their comrades had
carried off the bodies. This was true to a certain extent, as I saw
blood in many directions, and we found one Loquia lying dead with two
bullet wounds, through the head and thigh.
