Lake Victoria to Khartoum 



ear. They become very much attached to their 

 British officers, and produce all their amusing 

 little family disputes for his examination, placing 

 implicit trust in him and obeying his "yes" or "no" 

 like so many overgrown children. The Sudanese 

 enlist for about twelve years, and the Egyptians 

 are conscripted for about five years. The latter 

 are very fine men to look upon. I believe the 

 reason for their splendid appearance lies in the 

 fact that out of every hundred men only three 

 are picked, so, the choice being enormous, only 

 the finest are taken. 



Then there are the sporting and society excite- 

 ments of Omdurman and Khartoum to be set 

 forth as I saw them. First, the final match of 

 the polo tournament. The infantry team, who 

 in a most sensational game had beaten the cavalry 

 in the semi-final quite unexpectedly, were to play 

 the staff team, who were pronounced undefeat- 

 able. The latter managed to pull it off pretty 

 easily, but it was good to watch the game once 

 more, as the ball travelled well on the hard- 

 baked sand surface, and the ponies' hoofs fairly 

 rattled. 



An old friend in the Essex regiment, whom I 

 used to know in India, played a sterling game. 

 It was a great treat to me to see so many Arab 

 ponies together, and good-looking ones at that, 

 especially as I had arrived from a country where 

 horses don't grow. The Arab steed was one of 



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