On 4th November, I sent fifteen of the "Forty Thieves" to the south,
where I had discovered large quantities of corn in the villages that had
been until now undisturbed. To arrive at these villages, it was
necessary to pass over very high ground, which obscured them from our
view when on the diahbeeah.
My men had built themselves huts, and had formed a nice little camp, on
the hard, stony bank, close to the spot where my diahbeeah and other
vessels lay alongside. My horses were picketed in the centre, and we had
transported and erected a great number of granaries, which I had filled
with cleanly-thrashed corn, to await the arrival of the return vessels
from Gondokoro.
I was superintending the arrangements of the camp, when my attention was
attracted by exceedingly steady firing in single shots at a distance, in
the direction taken by my small party of "The Forty." Nothing could be
seen, owing to the high ground on the south.
I immediately ordered my horse, and accompanied by Monsoor and three
soldiers of "The Forty" I rode at a trot towards the direction of the
firing. I had left a small guard with the boats, as nearly all the men
were absent in the interior collecting the ` dhurra.
