out food and with little ammunition. Aided by these troops, the
outlying official buildings were occupied; and the friendly natives
lodged in huts a little farther from the fort.

Things remained quiet until the 15th of May, when Major Morris
arrived with his force. He too was short of food and ammunition,
and famine already began to stare the beleaguered garrison in the
face. Meanwhile the enemy had been busy erecting stockades, to bar
every outlet from Coomassie. Many attempts were made to take these
entrenchments; but they always failed, as they could not be pushed
home, owing to want of ammunition; and the troops became, to some
extent, demoralized by want of success.

Although the food had been carefully husbanded, it was running
perilously low. Rations consisted of one and a half biscuits, and
five ounces of preserved meat, per day. Five ponies, brought up by
Major Morris, and a few cows kept at the Residency were killed and
eaten. A few luxuries could still be bought from the native
traders, but at prodigious prices. A spoonful of whisky cost 2
shillings, a seven-pound tin of flour 6 shillings, a box of matches
2 shillings, and a small tin of beef 2 pounds, 16 shillings.

The refugees fared much worse. They had no reserve of food, and
foraging was next to impossible. As a result, they died at the rate
of thirty and forty a day.

When only three and a half days' rations were left, it was decided
that something must be done, and a council of war was called. It
was then agreed that those who could walk should make a dash for
it; and that a garrison of three Europeans, and a hundred rank and
file, should be left behind. For these twenty-three days' rations
could be left.

Major Morris, as senior officer, was to command the sortie. The
direct road down to the Cape was barred by a great force of the
rebels, and he therefore chose the road that would lead to the
Denkera country. If that could be reached, they would be in a
friendly country. The line to be taken was kept a profound secret,
and was not revealed until ten o'clock on the evening before
starting. The force consisted of six hundred soldiers, with a
hundred and fifty rounds of ammunition a man, seven hundred
carriers, and about a thousand refugees.

There was a mist in the morning, and the garrison who were to
remain made a feint, to direct the enemy's attention to the main
road. The column was not engaged until it reached a strong
breastwork, at Pota