AILMENTS, CAUSES AND EEMEDIES 215 



addition, were brutally cruel whenever they got the 

 chance was appalling ; and in Afghanistan, but notably 

 in Suakim in 1884, and up the Nile in 1884-85, these 

 latter were the most incompetent useless brutes men 

 who had never handled a camel in their lives. At 

 Suakim, had it not been for my handful of Aden drivers, 

 I do not know what I should have done. At Tel-el- 

 Kebir, in 1882,1 was with an Auxiliary Transport Com- 

 pany, and we had over 200 drivers, the scum and riff- 

 raff of Malta men who were perfectly at home in or 

 on the water, but who had never seen a mule in their 

 lives the most villainous and ruffianly crew that I have 

 ever had dealings with, utterly worthless and lazy. 

 What can you expect with such material, and what 

 transport officer in the world, even were he endowed 

 with the patience of Job, the strength of Hercules, and 

 the conscience of well, the most conscientious man in 

 existence, could do justice to the animals and ensure 

 them proper treatment ? Even were he to devote night 

 as well as day to it, he could not do it. 



The casualties that arose in Afghanistan from the 

 same causes, want of skill and attention in loading and 

 in fitting saddles, were something enormous. I regret 

 that I cannot go into detail, as I have no statistics by 

 me, but a couple of examples will, I think, suffice. At 

 Sibi, which was on the line of communications between 

 Jacobabad and Candahar, out of some 10,000 to 11,000 

 camels 5,000, or about 50 per cent., had sore backs. 

 At the Peiwar Kotal, after an inspection of 5,750 

 baggagers, 2,330, or over 40 per cent., were also 

 inefficient. 



Of the more recent Nile expeditions I can give some 



