On 6th February, at sunrise, all hands were at work dismounting the carts, and returning on board the vessels all material connected with the steamer, &c. I altered the loads, and made arrangements for a new plan of action. I had determined to push on to Lobore with one hundred men, in heavy marching order, if I could only engage a few natives to carry the necessaries for the road. At Lobore I might be able to engage a few hundred porters that I should send back to the vessels with an escort of fifty soldiers, to bring up sufficient ammunition and material for an advance south. I knew the route. It was therefore necessary to assort the baggage: much had to be returned to Gondokoro with the Englishmen. I had a small invoice-book that had been carefully prepared by Mr. Marcopolo, which gave the numbers and contents of every box; therefore the difficulty of assortment was not great. All the boxes were of block tin, painted; thus they could be piled like bricks one upon the other to form a wall. I arranged about 400 loads which were set apart for the carriers, should I be fortunate in procuring that number from Lobore. On 7th February the carts were shipped. All the loads were perfected and ready for a start on the following day. Some of my men were endeavouring to train a few oxen to carry their baggage. On 8th February the Englishmen, in very low spirits, started for Ismailia (Gondokoro) in two vessels, with ninety urdeps of dhurra consigned to Mr. Marcopolo. I had arranged that twenty-two boatmen should accompany me to Lobore, carrying such loads as were absolutely necessary for our party. They would then return together with the fifty soldiers who would escort the native carriers to the vessels. I had given the Englishmen instructions to commence the building of the steamer immediately, and to confine their work to this vessel until she should be completed. Having counted all the loads that were left in charge of Major Abdullah, I took a receipt for them, and gave that officer both clear and positive orders for his conduct. I left with him 120 men, together with the field-piece and eight artillerymen. In addition to these men was the crew of the No. 10 steamer, all of whom were trained as soldiers. Thus with the armed crews of the different vessels he would have a force of about 145 muskets. It was highly probable that the natives would attack the vessels and the cattle in my absence, as they would have remarked the great reduction of force. Although the country was perfectly open, the ground was high and rocky, and rapidly rose to about 200 feet above the level of the river within a distance of a mile; thus the natives scattered about the heights could always observe our proceedings. Before I quitted the vessels, I made every preparation for their security. All the metal boxes were built into a quadrangular breastwork, that would form a little fort for a dozen people.