we received another letter from Debruyne, saying that the Arabs had divided forces with the intention of crossing the river in three places at the same time, and thus compelling us to divide up. In the event of this succeeding, they anticipated no difficulty in destroying us in detail.

Debruyne begged us to abandon the idea of fighting, which he maintained was hopeless, and, instead, to cross the river and hold a friendly palaver with Sefu. He added, as a warning, that Sefu, although not anxious to fight, had told him the night before that his patience was nearly exhausted, and that he would spare none of us if we did not give in at once. The first men he intended to kill were Lippens and the writer of the letter. We naturally decided not to throw ourselves on Arab generosity, and sent to say so, at the same time