“Having come thus far, I was determined to obtain all the information in my power,—and accordingly, at daylight on the morning of the 2nd January 1841, I got my troop in their saddles, with the design of making a forward movement,—but, as soon as I had expressed my intention of proceeding direct to El Mezerib, the greater part positively refused to advance, and the remainder only followed with the utmost reluctance. After proceeding thus for two or three miles, we observed, on the opposite side of a ravine, a number of horsemen,—probably a vidette of the enemy, whom we could easily have driven in;—but this sight was quite enough for my brave troops; with the exception of the European party and my dragoman, one and all took to their heels; I returned alone to Naplouse; nor did I ever again behold my valiant cavalry[51]! “However, appearances strongly leading to the supposition that the Moïadjumah bridge was the point on which Ibrahim was directing his army, I lost no time in hurrying thither the mountaineers who had been already assembled at Naplouse; and, on the 5th of January, I marched off my first detachment of a few hundreds,—certainly not the most soldierlike-looking fellows in the world,—to Jennin, which I had fixed on as the point of assembly. “After despatching as many of these ragamuffins as could be gathered together, I myself proceeded to Jennin, and arriving there late at night, found General Jochmus and his aide-de-camp, Captain De l’Or; the latter very much elated at the wonderful exploits he said he had recently been performing on the rear of the Egyptian army. “To my surprise, however, I learnt that the General had given orders for my Naplousians to return, in consequence, as he said, of the positive intelligence received, that Ibrahim no longer intended taking the route of Jennin. This was all very well; but having been placed in command by the British General, I did not at all consider myself under the orders of Jochmus Pasha; and accordingly told him, that since he had divested me of my command, he might do what he pleased with the mountaineers, of whom I washed my hands; and immediately mounting my horse, I made the best of my way to Jaffa, not sorry at having an opportunity of going to what was now likely to become the scene of active operations before Gaza. “Shortly after reaching Jaffa, I was sent by General Michell, along with Reschid Pacha, to accompany and advise the movements of the left column of the Turkish army, consisting of twelve battalions, and a dozen field-pieces. This body was then concentrated at Jerusalem, and instructed to join the main force in a contemplated advance on Gaza. The whole Turkish army, including 3000 of the Emir Beschir’s cavalry, might have amounted to between 22,000 and 25,000 men, distributed as follows: