He does not know what harm will result from it. As for the other, he did not agree to the statement that his orders were necessarily to be carried out without our signature, even if harm resulted from them, although that is absolutely not permissible because he is indifferent to the damage that the Egyptian government might suffer from the consequences of his orders. He knew that the uprising would take place the next day, as if it were ammunition.

On Thursday, October 18, 1883, we set out from the Belshek post at 12 o'clock noon, heading for Abal. After an hour of marching, the enemy opened fire with more than thirty rounds from the left flank. From this, we knew the enemy was pursuing us. The fort was stopped (1) and prepared to fire. Since the fire of the ruffians was interrupted, one dust cloud followed another at a great distance. In order not to delay them (their only goal) and to disperse them from the sides of the fort, His Excellency General Hicks Pasha ordered the Krupp gun to be fired. Alas, the Krupp gun was not ready to fire except at a distance of approximately half an hour due to an internal defect. The gunner then moved to operate the second gun. This was due to the lack of attention of the two officers and the chief gunner, as it was necessary for us to be constantly ready at all times. What is worse is that instead of firing the rocket at least five hundred or a thousand meters away, it was fired at a distance of about twenty meters and sank into the ground without any benefit. The second was fired at a distance of one hundred meters. If the condition of the cannons is like this, then all that can be done is to cause them trouble by sending them away. This is attributed to His Excellency Abbas Bey, who is in charge of artillery. This caused great distress to all present, especially His Excellency General Hicks Pasha and His Excellency Al-Makdar. Then we proceeded as we were and arrived at a place called Al-Qadakim, near Abal, where we encamped and made the necessary preparations as usual. We will set out tomorrow for Abal, which, as before, has water.

On Friday, October 19, 1883, at 12 o'clock noon, we set out from Al-Qadakim post, heading for Abal. At 4:30, we arrived near Abal.

(1) The marching formation in the shape of a square.