ts, and as there will be no woods or thick scrub, from
what I have heard of the country, as there was on the plains round
Suakim, we ought not to be surprised."

"This meat is horribly tough," Willcox remarked. "It strikes me they
ought to have examined every one's mouth before they sent them out, and
to have chosen men with good sets of grinders, for I am sure they will
want them for this stuff."

"The meat is tough out here. You see, it won't keep and has to be cooked
pretty nearly warm, but it is better by a long way than that tinned meat
which is all we shall get, I expect, when we once start."

"When are we going to start?"

"In a few days, I should think. The boats are being taken up fast, and I
believe a lot of the Canadians went up yesterday. There are two or three
infantry regiments up there ready to go on as soon as the boats for them
get up; and as most of the camels are up there too, I should think they
will push us up as soon as they can, as I suppose we are intended to go
ahead of the boats and clear the banks."

Then they began to talk about the route, and Edgar, who had studied the
maps and knew all that was known on the subject of the journey, drew on
the sand the course of the Nile with its windings and turnings.

"You see the river makes a tremendous bend here," he said, "round by
Berber. The general idea is that when we get to this spot, where there
is a place called Ambukol, if there is news that Gordon is hard pressed
and cannot hold out long, a column will march across this neck to
Metemmeh, where there are some of Gordon's steamers. I expect that is
the work that will fall to the Camel Corps, and that it is specially for
this that we have been got up. You see, the rest of the journey is along
the water side, and horses would have done just as well as camels, and
would be much more useful, for, of course, the infantry will do the main
fighting, and the cavalry are only wanted for scouting and pursuit.
Camels are no good for either one work or the other, for nothing will
persuade the beggars to move out of their regular pace, which is just
about two and three-quarter miles an hour. If they did not intend to cut
across this neck, I don't see what they wanted more than the boats with
the infantry and a regiment or two of light cavalry on these country
horses, which are wonderfully hardy and can stand work that would knock
English horses to pieces in no time."

"Well, then, all that I can say i