The column was not engaged until it reached a strong breastwork, at Potasi.

This was taken after a severe fight; and Captain Leggatt, who commanded the vanguard, was mortally wounded.
Four men were also killed, and there were nine other casualties.
A part of the stockade was pulled away, and the force moved forward.

It was constantly attacked on the way and, on one occasion, Captain Marshall was seriously wounded in the head.
Numbers of soldiers, refugees, and carriers fell out from exhaustion, and had to be left behind.

Nearly all the carriers threw away their loads, and the men who carried the hammocks of the two ladies found themselves unable to support the weight.
The night was spent at Terrabum, eighteen miles from Coomassie; some two thousand human beings being crowded into the village, in a deluge.

The soldiers were posted round the camp, in the form of a square.
The second day was a repetition of the first--heavy rain, muddy roads; dying soldiers, carriers, and refugees; attacks by the enemy.