26 AFRICAN CAMP FIRES. 



panied by a retinue straight out of the Arabian 

 Nights, patiently awaiting the moment when we 

 should tire ; should seek out the table of a 

 sidewalk cafe ; and should, in our relaxed mood, 

 be ready to unbend to our royal purchases. 



At that moment we were too much interested 

 in the town itself. The tiny shops, with their 

 smiling and insinuating Oriental keepers, were 

 fascinating in their displays of carved woods, 

 jewellery, perfumes, silks, tapestries, silversmiths' 

 work, ostrich feathers, and the like. To either 

 side the main street lay long narrow dark 

 alleys, in which flared single lights, across which 

 flitted mysterious long-robed figures, from which 

 floated stray snatches of music either palpitat- 

 ingly barbaric or ridiculously modern. There 

 the authority of the straight, soldierly-looking 

 Soudanese policemen ceased, and it was not 

 safe to wander unarmed or alone. 



Besides these motley variegations of the East 

 and West, the main feature of the town was the 

 street car. It was an open-air structure of spa- 

 cious dimensions, as though benches and a canopy 

 had been erected rather haphazard on a small 

 dancing platform. The track is absurdly narrow 

 in gauge ; and as a consequence the edifice 

 swayed and swung from side to side. A single 



