CHAPTER II 



TRAVEL IN THE EASTERN SUDAN 



THE unit of transport throughout the Eastern Sudan 

 is the camel. In the desert the difficulty with regard 

 to the supply of water renders the employment of any 

 other animal impossible, either for baggage or riding, 

 and even in the region of rivers and gum forests south 

 of Kassala and Khartoum there are excellent reasons 

 for preferring camels to other animals, at least for 

 baggage purposes. There is a strong reason for not 

 employing either horses or mules, even in a country 

 otherwise suitable for these animals, since a kind of 

 malignant sickness may at any time attack them, 

 and kill an apparently healthy beast in a single 

 night. The same objection does not apply to 

 donkeys ; but, of course, these hardy little creatures 

 require to be watered daily, and since three donkeys 

 carry only the load of an average camel, and it is 

 unlikely that any single sportsman could make an 

 extensive expedition with less than eight camel-loads 

 of baggage, the exclusive employment of donkeys is 

 obviously inadvisable. For the desert journey of 



11 



