This made assurance a certainty, every man-jack of the crew being cock- a-hoop with excitement, when, after a lot of signalling between the two cruisers, and the _Merlin's_ gig bringing her captain alongside, he being junior to `old Hankey Pankey,' the two of us sailed off in company just before sunset. Our destination was Malindi, at the mouth of the Sabaki river, where it was reported the Somalis had made an inroad into the British protectorate, and burnt one of the out stations of the East African Company, slaughtering all the whites and natives employed by the traders. This place was only some sixty miles to the northward of Mombassa; and all the arrangements for our landing having been completed, and `old Hankey Pankey' settled his plan of operations with Captain Oliver of the _Merlin_, we did not hurry on the passage to Malindi, timing ourselves to arrive about daybreak, casting anchor in front of the town, as near in as we could get without shoaling our water, at Six Bells in the morning watch to the minute. During our run up the coast from Mombassa, the first lieutenant and Mr Dabchick saw to our boats being got ready, and the bluejackets and marines, who were detailed for service with the expedition, mustered on deck in all their `war paint,' and told off to the respective craft in which they were to go ashore; and by Eight Bells, after a hurried breakfast, which none of us much cared to eat, we were all so full of enthusiasm at the prospect of action, we shoved off from the _Mermaid_-- all in dead silence, though, so that no inkling of our coming might reach the ears of the Arabs before we were upon them. The boats of the _Merlin_ left their ship at the same time as we did ours; the two lots making for the land in two columns abreast, `old Hankey Pankey' leading our line in the launch, with the first and second cutters and the whaler trailing on behind, while Captain Oliver led those of the _Merlin_. On reaching the shore, the sea being fortunately very quiet, though the north-east monsoon was now blowing, we waded up the sandy beach without any difficulty; and, leaving our flotilla under charge of the boat- keepers, a couple of hands in each craft to look after them so as to prevent their grounding in the event of the wind getting up, when the surf might be dangerous, we united our forces and marched in a body inland. Avoiding the town of Malindi, our object being to surprise a stockade, where the Somalis were reported to have established themselves, some five miles off in the bush, in the rear of the outposts of the settlers, we shaped a course south by west under the guidance of one of the natives, who had been sent to us by one of the principal merchants of the place on hearing of our landing, so as to make our way easy for us, steering by compass in the jungle ashore being very different to what it is on the open sea.