The rains of 1889 were unfortunately late. The Southern Column, 1,869[56] strong, was concentrated at Pakokku. From Pakokku to Kan, which was to be the base for the operations, was one hundred and sixty-five miles. Shelters had been erected at the halting-places, and such provisions as could be procured were gathered and stored by the civil district officers. The troops began to move on the 23rd of November, and the march was successfully carried out in fifteen days, by detachments of one hundred fighting men with followers marching in succession daily. The first detachment left Pakokku on the 23rd of November, and the leading columns were only just able to get through the falling rivers and the drying country. The ground was heavy and the heat great. Nevertheless, troops and followers arrived at Kan in good condition, with only a nominal sick list. By the middle of November the Northern Column, 1,622[57] strong, was ready at Fort White and was waiting for the hill-coolies who were to form the transport, before it should move out. The garrisons for the ten posts which were to protect the frontier were sent up the Chindwin to Kalewa, and had to march down the Myittha Valley. Late rains had flooded the Kalè Valley, and as late as the end of November the country was impassable to anything but an elephant. On the 24th of October it took fifteen hours to get one hundred and seventy fresh mules, with elephants to carry their saddles and gear, through the bogs and swamps on the last five and a half miles of the road into Kalemyo, which was the distributing base for supplies for Fort White and for the posts in the Kalè Valley. By the end of December these ten posts were built, occupied, and rationed--a testimony to the qualities of the officers and men who overcame such difficulties. By the end of January, 1890, five hundred and fifty-one tons of stores had been sent by road to Kan, and six hundred and thirty-eight tons landed at Kalemyo by water. The river transport service not only did this, but also provided, as a by-work, carriage for many men joining their corps and for sick sent down to the rear. From the beginning of February, when the country had become dry, all supplies for the Southern Column were brought in carts from Pakokku to Kan and on to Haka on hired pack-bullocks and Government transport animals. To add to the difficulties, virulent cattle disease broke out in the Myittha and Kalè Valleys, and caused enormous loss. One-third of the pack-bullocks had died. The sickness was not confined to the transport animals. It was said that the villagers in the Kalè State lost 90 per cent. of their buffaloes.