10 SPORT IN THE EASTERN SUDAN 



regarded as a hard-worked man. It would, however, 

 surprise most of my confreres not a little, were they 

 called upon to subordinate their ideas of comfort in 

 marching to those of their camels, involving a daily 

 progress of twenty miles, of which ten should be 

 between 4 a.m. and 8 a.m., and ten between 4 p.m. 

 and 8 p.m. But this is only the Sudanese official's 

 ordinary " shid," a word which will become familiar 

 after a very brief residence in the country. Neither 

 would an Indian official be pleased to find that 

 a tent was by no means regarded as essential to his 

 marching outfit, but that, if luxuriously disposed, 

 he might sit from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. under a tarpaulin 

 suspended from four thorn - bushes. The present 

 arrangements are, indeed, only possible because ser- 

 vice in the Sudan is at present only for a limited 

 period of seven to ten years in almost all cases, and 

 up to the age of thirty or thirty-five, with good-will 

 most things are possible. If, however, the officials 

 are to be recruited as a distinct service and I under- 

 stand that an experiment in this direction is being 

 made already it seems to me to be absolutely essen- 

 tial that more of the amenities of life, such as we 

 understand them in India, should be introduced 

 forthwith. 



