So ignorant were the Turkish authorities of the movements of Ibrahim, who they fancied was wandering in the Desert, without an army, that on the very day on which Captain Stewart signed the instructions to Captain Arbuthnot and Colonel Colquhoun, to insist on Ibrahim retiring by Gaza in successive columns of 3000 men each, Ahmed Menikli Pacha arrived at Gaza with the main body of Ibrahim’s cavalry in excellent order, and the infantry in three columns. Ibrahim himself bringing up the rear was shortly expected: and on that day also General Jochmus and Mr. Wood, the emissary of Lord Ponsonby, wrote to the Seraskier[46] to inform him that the Baron Dumont having destroyed the magazine at Maan, Ibrahim’s army being cut in two, and gone back in thorough disorder, and his 150 guns being already in their power, according to the official orders read at the council of the preceding day Ibrahim would only be allowed the choice of two conditions,—viz. “1. To march upon El-Arish by the south of the Dead Sea, also upon Suez, with the men, arms, and conveyance which he now possesses. “2. To come in detachments of 3000 men by Gaza upon El-Arish, leaving his cannon in our hands, in consideration of the power which is granted to him of being permitted to follow this road, provided that he leaves all the Syrians in their country.” The march of Ibrahim on Gaza, by the south of the Dead Sea, shows very clearly that he never had the intention of entering Palestine, and that his crossing the Jordan was a manœuvre to mislead the Turks, in which he completely succeeded, and arrived safe at Gaza, without having encountered a single outpost of the Turkish army. Colonel Napier was attached to the Turkish division that Ibrahim forced to return to Jerusalem: the following is the Colonel’s account of their movements, as well as of what he knew of Ibrahim’s retreat. “Junior United Service Club, December, 1841. “You wish me to give you some information as to the retreat of Ibrahim Pacha from Damascus. All the notes I took at the time being with my baggage at Gibraltar, I cannot be very accurate in dates; but will furnish whatever I remember on the subject from the time you left me at Beyrout in November 1840, until my embarkation at Gaza for Egypt, in January 1841. “When the Powerful left St. George’s Bay, I think the Princess Charlotte, the Benbow, and Bellerophon remained off Beyrout, with a steamer and a couple of Austrian vessels. “From the time of your driving back Ibrahim,—in the action of the 10th of October,—from the heights of Boharsof, nothing certain had been known at Beyrout relative to his movements, and we,—to all _appearance_,—remained in a state of complete inactivity.