FURTHER PREPARATIONS. I4I procured, and on the i8th of January, under the assumption that they were ordered for a short march out, to be followed by an inspection by the general, the mounted troops moved off into the desert, and then by a khor, or dry water-course, made a short cut into the Berber-Duguiyet road. They reached a spot about eight miles from El-Koua by midnight, where they halted till four the next morning, when they started again and reached the cultivated khor of El-Koua, only to find traces of the sudden flight of the enemy. This perhaps explained the fresh marks of a camel's feet Avhich on the previous day had been noticed on the road in the direction of the wells. The guide (who afterwards joined the Mahdi) had probably contrived to give the alarm, and as there was nothing to be gained by pursuit, and the raiding party had already travelled about thirty-five miles, it was determined to go no further than to the end of the khor, about three miles onward; there was little water at the wells, and the ground was difficult for cavalry, and therefore, after taking some grain that had been left, and burning a few of the huts, the party returned to camp, having, at all events, caused El-Zain and his followers to retire to a safe distance.

The original instructions as to the mode in which the desert column was to proceed had been considerably altered; but, as we have seen, their orders were to advance through the Monassir country, seize and garrison Abu Hamed, receive a convoy from Korosko, and advance on Berber—on approaching which, when within twenty miles, they were to signal by firing a gun and two rockets every night at midnight, when the desert column, which would have steamers and men six or eight miles above Berber, would answer, after which the steamers would reconnoitre and assist in the attack on the town. Major Rundle had 700 camels at Korosko ready for the march of the escort, and signals had been arranged to apprise him when the column were near Abu Hamed. The convoy leaving Korosko would take such letters and papers as could be sent from Cairo by the mail leaving on the 2 2d of January, and certain necessary supplies, as paint for the boats and shoes for the horses, were to