14 SERVICE AND SPORT IN THE SUDAN 



decoration, if he provided them himself. He was a 

 splendid officer, honest, zealous, and hard working, 

 though whether he ever excelled as a "spit and 

 polish " one I do not know. 



My Bashawish (Sergeant-Major), Gabril Ahmed, was 

 the next man of importance. He was the son of a 

 Hawazma sheikh by a Nuba woman, and had been 

 wounded, captured, and recruited by us in '96. He 

 was somewhat Egyptianised, which was a pity, as 

 he was a fine fellow, but his " It is not possible" often 

 annoyed me. 



Of the 150 men, 50 were pure, straight-haired 

 Arabs ; 70 were Kordofan Arabs, who, by inter- 

 marriage with the Nubas, &c., have the curly hair 

 of the latter. The remainder were Sudanese. Often 

 now do I pass them in mental review, and try to find 

 one I would try to mark down as a real " rotter." I 

 cannot. It is not because I am an enthusiast, for I 

 can weed out my Bahr el Ghazal irregulars and 

 Egyptian and Northern Arab police without effort, 

 grand fellows though they were. With the former 

 I had a free hand as to enlistment or discharge. 

 Outside the office there would be daily ten or eleven 

 would-be recruits. If recommended by a friend 

 or relation in the corps, passed by a doctor, and in- 

 telligent — in they came. Undesirables had short shrift 

 — out they went. Small wonder that, after a year of 

 selection, I find it hard to find fault with them. They 

 have proved their mettle again and again since then. 

 Truly, in writing of them the difficulty is not to say 

 too much. The camels were not beautiful. Hard 



