My troops in full uniform went out to meet the reinforcements, which quickly marched up and formed on the level turf outside the fort upon the north side.
I rode out and inspected the troops.
NOT ONE HEAD OF CATTLE HAD ARRIVED!
The lieutenant-colonel, Tayib Agha, had made a sad mess of his command during the march. He had quarrelled with Wat-el-Mek; and simply because some of the native carriers had absconded in a portion of the Bari country named Moogi, he had set fire to the villages in revenge! This was in a country, where I had established peace.
The Baris had attacked the troops, and had not only killed twenty-eight of our men, but had stripped the bodies, and possessed themselves of clothes, arms, and ammunition. They had also captured the cattle.
Although Tayib Agha had about 280 men, he actually retreated and dared not attack the natives to recover either the bodies of his men or their muskets! (The lieutenant who commanded the unfortunate detachment was killed while defending himself bravely to the last. In addition to the twenty-eight soldiers, two Bari interpreters were also killed, making a total loss of thirty.)
I at once determined to leave Major Abdullah as commandant at Fatiko, and to take Tayib Agha back to Gondokoro, as he was not fit for an independent command.
The immense delay in sending up the reinforcements had been occasioned by the long voyage from Khartoum.
When Wat-el-Mek had reached Gondokoro, the troops HAD NOT ARRIVED from
Khartoum; therefore he was obliged to wait.
When at length they did arrive, they had been THIRTEEN MONTHS on the voyage to Gondokoro, and had passed the rainy season with the slave-traders in the camp of Kutchuk Ali on the Bahr Giraffe; this river they reported as navigable, owing to my canals, which had continued open.