I arrived in His Majesty’s ship the “Wilhelmina,” Capt. Sind, at Cosseir, from Mocha, on the 14th July, 1801, after a passage, against the monsoon, of two months.
July 17th.—I was ordered to hold myself in readiness to march across the desert to Kenè on the Nile, a distance of about 130 miles, and to take under my command four companies of His Majesty’s Sixty-first Regiment, and a detachment of His Majesty’s Tenth Regiment, infantry, together with a small party of the Eighth Light Dragoons,—these amounted to 582 soldiers;—twenty boxes of treasure were likewise put under my escort. The line of march consisted of upwards of 850 men, including Indian followers, Arab camel-drivers, &c., &c.
Before I proceed upon my journal of the very fatiguing march I underwent, I shall mention a few observations upon Cosseir, in Upper Egypt. This place is well known as a seaport, and it is, perhaps, one of the most miserable spots in the universe; a few wretched mud-houses placed along the beach, with some narrow lanes branching off at right angles, in all about two hundred habitations, compose this abominable little town. Just above it, stands a fort which the French had put into a tolerably defensible state; at all events, it was an impregnable fortification against the combined native force of Upper Egypt. About three-quarters of a mile to the westward of it, was the ground where the Indian army was encamped; this situation is in nature the most sterile and arid, not a blade of any kind of verdure to be seen,—vegetation of every description is totally wanting,—and the wearied eye meets no object but the bare, rugged, and burnt-up hills which bound the view towards the desert. This frightful country appears quite unfit for the existence of human beings; nature has furnished it with no sources of fresh water, and that indispensable necessary of life is only to be obtained by digging wells in the sand, into which oozes a kind of bitter salt water, the most offensive thing to the taste imaginable; and its effects are no less noxious,—as people who drink it are always (at first) attacked with a violent vomiting and purging, which is accompanied by the most intolerable and burning thirst. Our soldiers were nearly to a man, in a more or less degree, afflicted with this disease, and though it only proved fatal to a few, still it handled very roughly all those who were under the necessity of using this detestable water. The heat when I was at Cosseir was almost intolerable. Provisions were plentiful and cheap,—the fish excellent; but although the inhabitants possess as fine wheat as any in Europe, their bread was detestable, being a kind of dough cake half-baked, or rather burnt, in the dusty ashes.
July 18th.—Every preparation having been made, I marched at six o’clock, P.M., with the troops, followers, drivers, &c., as already stated; and our line of march was considerably increased by a number of asses, the property of individuals, who had loaded these useful animals with an independent supply of water. We continued our route, keeping a large range of rocky and burnt-up hills on our left; a very fine moon shone only to render this dreary scene the more awful; the setting sun brought us little, if any, relief as to heat. After marching about five miles we came to some springs, or rather a black rivulet of water, very bitter, which crosses the valley through which the road leads. I endeavoured in vain to prevent the soldiers from drinking of this infernal brook; thirst was too imperious, and I soon found that my orders had been disregarded by all the rear. Many of the men soon felt the ill effects of their folly, and began to fall back faint and oppressed, and this was much aggravated by the very extraordinary closeness of the heat: what air did exist, was like the breathing of a furnace.
At twelve o’clock we reached the new wells. I reckon the distance about thirteen miles, where I found a subaltern officer and a few Sepoys stationed to take charge of, and protect them. After placing the necessary guards, &c., I ordered the detachment to lie down, and we enjoyed a most refreshing repose for about three hours. At this time the captain of the rear-guard came up, and reported that a great many stragglers were still behind.
I ordered the drums to beat half an hour before day, when the camp was pitched, and the men sheltered from the sun, which rose with a most blazing and fiery aspect. From midnight, until a little after sunrise, the air in the desert is delightfully cool and refreshing (I mean comparatively with the rest of the twenty-four hours); nature, I suppose, has kindly ordained this comfort to the unfortunate travellers, and still more miserable inhabitants of this dreary waste.
July 19th.—It was late in the day when all our stragglers came up. I was much concerned to find that the mussacks[9] (or water-bags) had leaked considerably, and that I should be under the necessity of replenishing them from the wells of this post. I must here observe, that General Baird had caused, both at this and other posts on the desert, wells to be dug, in order to procure a supply of that greatest of all necessaries of life (in such a climate as this)—water. In these scanty sources, it was thick and muddy; however, even this, could we have obtained it in abundance, would have been reckoned a luxury; but, alas! a very limited supply was all we could get: therefore, at half-past five, P.M., I marched. We passed for some hours through a long and winding valley; high, brown, rugged mountains, with here and there a solitary eagle perched upon a projecting crag, were the only gloomy objects that presented themselves. We continued our route northerly, through the same desolate wilderness, and at one o’clock I judged it necessary to halt; but this halting-place was not to be distinguished from any accommodations, not from a spring or rivulet of water, not from any shelter from the scorching sun, and more suffocating hot wind, but it became a place of repose merely from the total incapacity of the troops to move a mile further: here then I ordered the baggage to be unloaded, and the detachment to lie down to rest. I never suffered the tents to be pitched until just before sunrise, as I found the soldiers always marched more refreshed by letting them take their rest the instant they halted, than to undergo the fatigue and confusion of pitching their tents in the dark. No dew falls in the desert; the air is so greedy of moisture, that the least wet is instantly absorbed, and sleeping in the open air was here a luxury.
July 20th.—I was much grieved at daylight to find that about forty men were still behind. I trembled at the horrors these poor fellows would be exposed to, should they be left destitute and forlorn in the desert. After seriously reflecting upon this most melancholy circumstance, I sent for the chief Arab, who, as a kind of scheik, had some sort of control over the camel-drivers, and ordered him to collect some of the principal ones; as soon as they came to my tent, I told them the apprehensions I was under, and proposed to them to return in the track we had come the day before for at least seven miles, and promised to reward them liberally for every soldier they should bring up. All their attention was called forth by the mention of money, and they became eager to be useful. Twenty camels set off, and my brother, Captain Frederick Barlow, Sixty-first Regiment, very humanely volunteered, notwithstanding the intolerable heat, to attend the camels. I filled a cag with a mixture of port wine and water, which he took with him, and it proved of the most essential service. At the distance of from four to six miles from camp, he picked up twenty-one poor exhausted fainting wretches, who, without this assistance, must have died in a very few hours: some not able to speak, and the whole totally incapable of walking a step further. One fine lad in particular, was so far gone, as to lay stretched out on the sand as if expiring; but upon pouring some of the wine and water down his throat, he gradually recovered, and he was brought into camp in a man’s arms on a camel. Water, and afterwards some wine, soon restored him to sufficient strength to enable him to proceed on a camel, with other sick men, that afternoon: before two o’clock all the absentees got into camp. This day we contrived to dine tolerably well; but for want of water to wet the bags, our wine was as hot as milk immediately from the cow,—the water we had to drink was the same, therefore to quench our thirst was impossible.
At half an hour past nine I marched, and we had not proceeded two miles, the heat absolutely suffocating, when we were met by a convoy of camels, loaded with most excellent water. This very seasonable supply had been forwarded to us from Moila, owing to my having sent on to the officer commanding at that post, to say how distressed I was for water from the leakage of our mussacks. Many of the soldiers quitted their ranks, and eagerly ran up to the camels to seize upon the water. I had no little difficulty in restraining them. I even told the officers to acquaint their men, that I would not permit the camels to be unloaded if the least irregularity took place. This had an immediate effect; and as the detachment stood in open column of half companies, the whole, in less than an hour, were regularly served with an ample supply, besides filling their canteens; as this water came in large earthern jars, it was quite cool, and had such an astonishing effect upon the troops, that we were enabled to get on with great vigour, and at half-past one on the 21st of July, we reached Moila.