Surviving soldiers of the advance guard arrived at Damascus to alert the authorities, who afterward dispatched a relief guard to support the main caravan, which by late September had reached the northern Hejaz town of Tabuk.
The caravan's provisions were running low,[REF] and Husayn Pasha departed Tabuk[REF] with the caravan in late October with knowledge that the Bani Saqr and allied tribesmen, including the smaller Sardiyah, Bani Aqil and Bani Kulayb,[REF] awaited them on the route [REF].