I now marched my men along the high ground towards the south, and
examined the numerous habitations, until I arrived at a little colony
comprising six villages, all of which were full of corn. Here I left
Major Abdullah and his detachment, with orders to collect all the dhurra
from the neighbouring villages, and to form a central depot at his
present station, after which, the corn could be thrashed out and carried
to the vessels. I stationed a noggur by the bank exactly opposite his
position, about half a mile distant.
The natives had abandoned the neighbourhood: and hundreds of villages
remained without an inhabitant.
On 3rd November, I sent off vessels heavily laden with corn to
Gondokoro, under the command of Lieutenant Baker, with instructions that
the detachment under Lieutenant-Colonel Achmet should join me as soon as
possible, and that empty vessels should at once be sent to my corn
depot.
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.
After riding for about a mile and a half over high ground covered with
fine turf, from the summit of which I had a beautiful view of the
undulating country before me, with the White Nile flowing through the
valley, and high mountains in the distance, I came suddenly upon a
village, where I observed two of my "Forty" mounted as sentries upon the
summits of the tallest huts. A little in advance of this position, I
found the remainder of my party. It appeared that they had been
suddenly, attacked, but the sentries on the house-tops had given timely
warning.
There could not have been a more suitable country for rifle-practice,
as it was completely open and almost devoid of trees. The fine, swelling
undulations were intersected with deep rocky ravines at right angles to
the river, which after heavy rains brought down the torrents from the
mountains.
My arrival on the summit, on a white horse, attended only by Monsoor and
three soldiers, was a signal for a great blowing of horns and beating of
drums. Immense numbers of natives were to be seen in all parts of the
view before us. They ran eagerly from their villages, and collected from
every quarter, evidently bent upon a fight with my little party.
I ordered my men to cease firing, as they were wasting their ammunition
uselessly, and destroying the prestige of the rifles by missing at long
ranges.
I ordered a general advance in open order, about four yards apart; thus
twenty men covered a line of about seventy-six paces. This front, with
the men in scarlet uniform, made a tolerable show. I rode at the lead on
a very beautiful Arab, "Greedy Grey," which was the most perfect of all
the horses I had brought from Egypt: excelling in breed, speed, beauty,
and temper.
My little company marched forward in quick time. This was a signal for a
chorus of yells upon all sides; the big drums sounded louder than
before, and the horns of the Baris bellowed in every direction.
Great numbers of natives now advanced with their bows and arrows,
gesticulating and leaping from side to side in their usual manner, so as
to prevent the possibility of a steady aim.
As yet, they were about 600 yards distant, and I continued the march
forward as though no enemy were present. As we descended a ravine and
marched up the opposite incline, I found that the natives retired over
the next undulation. Their line of front extended about a mile and a
quarter, while we occupied at the most eighty paces.
Having marched about a mile without firing a shot, and finding that the
natives invariably fell back as we advanced, at the same time that they
kept the same interval between us, I at once understood their tactics.
It was now five o'clock; the sun would set within an hour, and their
intention was to draw us forward until darkness would reduce the power
of the rifles. They would then be able to surround us, and very possibly
over power our little force during our retreat to the vessels in the
dark.
I halted my men, and explained to them the Baris' dodge. I now ordered
the retreat after this manner: we should hurry down-hill and march
quickly up the next undulation, so as to deceive the enemy with the idea
of a precipitate retreat.
