“On receiving this guarantee we, in the name of the united forces of Great Britain, pledged ourselves that no molestation or obstacle should be put in the way of such evacuation, nor any advance of the Turkish troops at Medjdel take place, until I had reported the evacuation complete. “This pledge was approved and confirmed by the Seraskier at Jaffa[58], and the evacuation went on afterwards with confidence. “This measure had become absolutely necessary from the Egyptians’ evident want of confidence in the Turks; they feared that as soon as they had so far weakened their force at Gaza as to be incapable of resistance, the Turks might attack them. “Colonel Rose having been also sent in search of Ibrahim, with a copy of the Convention, and a letter from General Michell and Captain Stewart, after much disappointment, arising from the determination on the part of the Arabs not to conduct any one to Ibrahim, if indeed they knew where to find him, fell in with him on the 31st (January), in the Desert, about four hours from Gaza, which town he entered with him between 4 and 5 P.M. the same afternoon. “The General-in-Chief appeared much fatigued, and very unwell, and had no doubt suffered much on the journey round the east and south sides of the Dead Sea. He brought with him about 5000 troops.” Colonel Rose, soon after this, went to Constantinople, and upon his arrival at Therapia, made a report to Lord Ponsonby on the state of Ibrahim’s army, which differs a good deal from that of the other officers. I give a short extract from the document[59]. “When I came up with Ibrahim Pacha’s column, there were two lines of videttes flanking it towards the Syrian side,—mounted and dismounted cavalry—to prevent desertion. I rode for several miles along the column, which was in great disorder—in fact it was quite broken up; groups of men in twos and threes, some armed, some not, others hardly able to walk. I saw two standards, one without any escort, the other with a guard of two men: they must have belonged to battalions which had been broken up on account of their casualties. Ibrahim Pacha’s own horses had had no barley that day; the troops had been three days without water, and had subsisted chiefly on mule and donkey flesh, which sold at a high price: 200 determined cavalry might have swept away all that part of the column which I saw (I entered it at about two-thirds of its length,) with great ease.