five in the
afternoon
He himself had crossed , and the women and children had been taken over on a raft . On the 22nd , the Darfur Sheik was sent off up the west bank , to harass the Dervishes who had already crossed . On the 24th two gunboats arrived , with two hundred more men of the 10th Soudanese , and a small detachment of the 9th . On the following day the little force started , at five in the afternoon ; and , at eleven at night , halted at a little village . At three in the morning they again advanced , and at eight o'clock came in contact with the Dervish outposts . Colonel Lewis had already learned that , instead of half the Dervish force having crossed , only one division had done so , and that he had by far the greater part of Fadil 's army opposed to him . It was a serious matter to attack some four or five thousand men , with so small a force at his disposal ; for he had but half the 10th Soudanese , a handful of the 9th , and two Maxim guns .