Having Counted All The Loads That Were Left In Charge Of Major Abdullah,
I Took A Receipt For Them, And Gave That Officer Both Clear And Positive
Orders For His Conduct.
I left with him 120 men, together with the field-piece and eight
artillerymen.
In addition to these men was the crew of the No. 10
steamer, all of whom were trained as soldiers. Thus with the armed crews
of the different vessels he would have a force of about 145 muskets. It
was highly probable that the natives would attack the vessels and the
cattle in my absence, as they would have remarked the great reduction of
force. Although the country was perfectly open, the ground was high and
rocky, and rapidly rose to about 200 feet above the level of the river
within a distance of a mile; thus the natives scattered about the
heights could always observe our proceedings.
Before I quitted the vessels, I made every preparation for their
security. All the metal boxes were built into a quadrangular breastwork,
that would form a little fort for a dozen people.
I moored the vessels in line close to the mouth of a deep flat-bottomed
ravine, which, although now dry and about thirty paces wide, had formed
the bed of a river during the wet season. The perpendicular banks of
this fosse would make a grand protection for the cattle; I therefore
ordered a fence of thorns to be constructed across the ravine about a
hundred yards from the river, so as to form a kraal, in which the cows
would be confined below the level of the country.
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