n advance of the 38th. The
officers with six men went forward to reconnoitre, and suddenly found
themselves in front of a large body of the enemy; the infantry
dismounted and returned the fire opened upon them, expecting support
from the rear. Orders, however, came for them to retire. In the
meantime two of the little band were struck dead, and two were wounded.
Lieutenant Vyse, a great favourite with his men, was struck high in the
leg, and, the arteries being severed, bled to death. His comrades would
not desert his body, but carried it off under a tremendous fire, the two
wounded men, who were still able to use their rifles, covering the
retreat with their fire.

Sir Garnet Wolseley arrived at Alexandria on the 15th of August, and on
the 19th, the whole of the troops from England having arrived, the fleet
with a large number of transports sailed from Alexandria, leaving a
division under the command of General Sir Evelyn Wood to defend the
town. Arriving at Port Said, the fleet sailed up the Suez Canal to
Ismailia, which they occupied without resistance, and the troops at once
began to land.

On the 24th an advance was made on Ismailia, and at a distance of seven
miles the enemy was encountered. The force was not sufficient to attack
the enemy, but an artillery fire was kept up hotly all day. In the
evening British reinforcements came up, and the Egyptians in the morning
retired without fighting. They made a stand, however, farther back; but
the cavalry under General Drury Lowe pushed forward on their flank, and
after a short resistance the Egyptians fled, a great number of them
making their escape in the railway trains. Seven Krupp guns, an immense
quantity of rifles and ammunition, and seventy-five railway waggons,
loaded with provisions, fell into our hands. The troops now advanced as
far as Kassassin, where the advanced troops were under the command of
General Graham.

On the 29th of August the enemy were seen in considerable force near
this post, and the cavalry at Mahsameh, four miles in the rear, rode out
to assist the force there. The enemy, however, made no attack, and in
the afternoon the cavalry returned. Scarcely had they reached camp when
a heavy and continuous roar was heard; the Egyptians, with a force of
13,000 men, had advanced with the intention of crushing the small bodies
of British troops in their isolated posts. The garrison of Kassassin
consisted only of a battalion of Marine Art