lin. There were fragments of sculptured stones, granite, and blocks
of sandstone, and I noticed one broken memorial slab covered with
Greek characters. Farther on we had to turn aside to avoid wadies and
khors, up which the Nile had flowed. We were able to water the animals
at some of those places. The mules and horses buried their noses in
the flood and drank greedily, and the camels also had a fine,
long-necked thirst. We were ourselves too parched to care about the
impurities of the Nile, and soldiers and officers swallowed great
draughts of the soupy stuff.

Late in the afternoon of the 17th the column turned to the river to
bivouac at Kitaib, a twenty-two miles journey for the day. Too late it
was found that the ration depot there, from which the column was to
draw fresh supplies, was upon the farther side of a newly-made inlet.
The column had to repack, and turn west to round the creek. We reached
Kitaib No. 2 about six p.m. Part of the battery mules and transport,
however, got leave to remain at the first halting-place, as they stood
in no need of supplies, and I unpacked by myself, bivouacking under a
clump of tall mimosa trees hard by a vast deserted village and a long
grove of date palms. I believe that over a score of men lost the road
that night and ultimately wandered to the river and got to the front
by steamer. There were several cases of heat exhaustion and sunstroke,
but happily few of a serious nature. Two troopers, who floundered
through the marshy land, got taken aboard a gunboat when they were
utterly prostrate. Others, whose horses went lame or had to be killed,
were ordered down to the Nile to secure passage on as best they could.
In the darkness, as I was eating my evening meal by candle-light, two
Lancers shouted and rode up. They had the too common but true story to
tell of having missed the track. I found supper and breakfast for
them, and started them off with their troop at eight o'clock next
morning, the 18th August, for the column left Kitaib at a late hour.
My servants were glad of the soldiers' arrival, for they were terribly
afraid of robbers, the district being infested with marauding natives.
During the night several fugitives from Omdurman passed us going
north. Eighteen Shaggieh, who had escaped in a sail-boat, were but
four days out from Khartoum. They professed to be delighted to get
away. The Khalifa, they said, had ordered every sail-boat to go south
of Khartoum. Taking advantag