n' at Khor Wintri,
where the Erkowit road enters the hills. It was then hoped that Osman
Digna would descend and fight a battle of the required dimensions in the
open; after which, if victorious, the force would return to Suakin and
Tokar.

In order to make the Suakin Column as mobile as possible, the
whole force was mounted on camels, of which more than 1,000 were
requisitioned, as well as 60 mules and 120 donkeys. Two hundred Arabs
accompanied the column to hold these beasts when necessary. Six days'
forage and rations, one day's reserve of water, 200 rounds per man,
and 100 shell per gun were carried. At five o'clock on the afternoon
of Tuesday, the 14th of April, the troops paraded outside the walls of
Suakin, and bivouacked in the open ready to march at daylight.

The next morning the column, which numbered about 1,200 men of all arms,
started. After marching for four or five hours in the direction of Khor
Wintri the cavalry, who covered the advance, came in contact with the
Dervish scouts. The force thereupon assumed an oblong formation: the
mixed Soudanese company and the two guns in front, three Egyptian
companies on each flank, the Camel Corps company in the rear, and the
transport in the centre. The pace was slow, and, since few of the camels
had ever been saddled or ridden, progress was often interrupted by
their behaviour and by the broken and difficult nature of the country.
Nevertheless at about four o'clock in the afternoon, Teroi Wells, eight
miles from Khor Wintri, were reached; and here, having marched nineteen
miles, Colonel Lloyd determined to halt. While the infantry were making
the zeriba, the cavalry were sent on under Captain Fenwick (an infantry
officer employed on the Staff) to gain touch with the Tokar force, who
were expected to have already reached the rendezvous. Apparently under
the belief that Omar Tita and his Arabs would give timely notice of
an attack, the cavalry seem to have neglected many of the usual
precautions, and in consequence at about five o'clock, when approaching
Khor Wintri, they found themselves suddenly confronted with a force of
about 200 Dervish horsemen supported by a large body of infantry. The
squadron wheeled about with promptitude, and began to retire at a
trot. The Dervish horsemen immediately pursued. The result was that the
Egyptians began a disorderly flight at a gallop through the thick and
treacherous scrub and over broken, dangerous ground. Sixteen horses