14 MARCH 1903, Page 1

During the past ten days the advance of the Somali-

land Expedition has begun, the troops leaving Bohotle on the 3rd of March. The strategy is very difficult to set forth without a map, but the British and the Abyssinians are gradually closing round the Mullah, who, it is said, must either

stand the chances of a battle or retreat into the waterless section of the desert. He has, it is reported, a force of five thousand men and a large supply of rifles, but the accuracy of these statements is very doubtful. Indeed, the worst omen for the expedition is the difficulty of obtaining information, which is only equalled by the difficulty of keeping the camels alive. The beasts with the advancing columns are reported to be dying rapidly, the scarcity of water trying them even more than the troops.