Another fib—they told me that they had got everything out of the Husseinyeh but the biscuit: it appears that the ammunition is still in her.
No church parade on the right bank of Nile (Kalakla), but one is going on at Giraffe on the Blue Nile. It appears last night that a boat went off to the Husseinyeh, that the men in this boat got frightened at the challenge of our own men and jumped into the water, and left their boat. I went down to Mogrim, and found the Ismailia has been struck by seven shells, and is pockmarked with bullets all over. The Arabs (some 400 rifles) line a long trench opposite the Husseinyeh: we have erected a parapet on our side opposite her. The Arabs have four guns, from which they kept up a desultory fire, doing no harm. The Arabs’ rifle-fire is continuous and futile, ours is less heavy, but I expect equally futile, for the Arabs keep under cover. The Arabs fired regular volleys, upwards of five, while I was there: they appear to delight in the noise. The Husseinyeh is about 1,200 yards from the point x, 800 yards from y, and 1,000 yards to z, where my trench is.
Husseinyeh lies just off the end of the entrenchment of Omdurman entrenched camp.
She has her stern to the Arabs.
A soldier came in to the North Fort from the Arabs on the Blue Nile, and reports that a man with letters came the night before last to the fort of Omdurman and called out to the sentries, but before they could let him into the fort the Arabs captured him and the letters. I hope to be able to-night to communicate by bugle sounds with Omdurman Fort.
Revised list of the robbery; 172,000 okes of biscuit they change every day. We have to-day in the magazine 240,000 okes of biscuit, 1,326 ardebs of dhoora. Have ordered 1000 okes to be given away, and 4000 okes to be sold.