IN SIGHT OF THE ENEMY. 1

7

and the supply of dhurra that could be carried for them was very

small.

On the morning of the i6th the column again started before

daylight, so that part of the force got away on a wrong track, and

it was half an hour before they reached their places again, and the

camels were rolling and tumbling about on some very rough

ground. In an hour, however, day broke, and the column was

on a vast level plain, where tracks of horses and spots where

recent encampments had been, could be seen here and there. In

front were the hills of Abu-Klea in the distance, and Major Barrow with Colonels Dickson and Stuart Wortley were ordered

to push on with the hussars and occupy the wells. Between ten

and eleven, having reached the foot of the hills, the column halted

for a rest and some breakfast. The spot was at the end of the

long plain with steep black mountains in front. There was little

time either to rest or to eat, for at eleven o'clock Major Barrow came in to report that he had found the enemy in force between

the main column and the wells. With three or four hussars he

had pursued some of the Arab scouts into the Abu-Klea valley,

where he had seized one man, when a number of spearmen sprang

from the long grass, and he was obliged to drop his prisoner and

ride for his life. The route from the halting-place of the column

to the wells was through a pass of the mountain, and after

ascending this and on coming to a ridge, detached bodies of the enemy could be seen on the hilltops in front. There was great

excitement among our troops at the prospect of a fight, and Sir

Herbert Stewart and Sir Charles Wilson went out to see what

was the position of the enemy; the former returning to select

a place at which to halt the convoy, while the latter went on to

reconnoitre and to join the advance picket of hussars down the

valley, whence could be seen a long line of banners fluttering in

the breeze and stretching right across the road. There was also

a large tent, and the beating of tom-toms, and the puffs of white

smoke to be descried in the distance showed that the attack had

begun, inasmuch as the rifles of the enemy were being fired at the

advanced party of hussars—though it was at too great a distance

Vol. IV. 65