I
therefore gave orders that the corn should be immediately cleared away
so as to leave an open space. Guards were posted in various places;
sentries were placed on the summits of the tallest huts to keep a good
look-out, while the remainder of the force set to work and commenced
clearing. By sunset we had cut down about six acres.
I gave orders to Raouf Bey to divide the troops in four stockades, which
formed a sort of quadrilateral. This officer suggested that the men
might all be massacred by a Bari night-attack if thus divided, and he
proposed to inclose the whole force of 450 men within one zareeba, like
sheep or cattle! In spite of our successes, the officers had a wholesome
dread of the Baris, that relieved me from all apprehensions of their
erring by an excess of rashness.
I divided the soldiers of the line in three zareebas, while I occupied
the fourth with Lieutenant Baker and twenty men of the "Forty Thieves."
Every day was now passed in collecting corn, but the soldiers as usual
worked badly. In the mean time the natives worked most energetically
during the night, and carried off ten times the amount gathered by the
troops. There was so bad a feeling among the officers, that it was easy
to perceive they were predetermined to neglect this opportunity of
filling our granaries.
