He turned away from me completely, and we had barely reached the bank when those who were complaining set fire to the trees and the reeds on the mountainside. Gordon looked out and saw the enemy, who had become like ants, setting fire to us and insulting us with the vilest curses. He started to laugh and said to me, "Don't blame me, my dear Fawzi, for you are right to blame me, but I am the one who is to blame." Then, as we were leaving between the two mountains, we saw no one. We arrived at a place called (Walad Abu Halima), where there was a pile of wood to be used for fuel. The steamer stopped to take some of the wood. We spent a lot of time collecting wood in two nearby places, and we found no one from the crew or the guards on either side. So the steamer's crew went down and began to load the wood onto the ship, and I stood watching them, urging them to hurry. Gordon came out and sat in the shade of a tree about a hundred yards from the river. As we were talking, a person I had never seen on the ship before approached me. He came up to me and greeted me, and I recognized him as one of my soldiers who had been with me on the equator. He recognized me as a soldier and I recognized him. I wanted to find out what news he had. He interrupted me, saying, "I am not coming from where you think. I have come to tell you, for the sake of our old friendship, that the inhabitants of this region have heard of your arrival with Gordon and will attack you at this moment." He then left quickly, going back the way he came. I hurried to Gordon, whom I found lost in thought. I preempted him by saying, "Let's go quickly to the steamer." Something struck him, preventing him from speaking. He got up quickly, without showing any surprise. We boarded the steamer. We had barely boarded when a large number of people attacked the ship. We quickly cut the ropes, and two of the crew were delayed in boarding due to the congestion on the path leading to the steamer.