INTRODUCTION xi 



the Sudan ; for a kaimakam it is £^20^ also with 

 allowances ; and for the higher ranks in proportion. 

 The pay in the civil administration is somewhat 

 higher. 



I do not pretend in the following pages to lay down 

 the law, or even to pose as an authority on things 

 Anglo-Sudanese except in so far as four years of 

 service and observation (with less leave than most) 

 entitles me to do. I venture to think that my ser- 

 vice covered more interesting and diverse experiences 

 than is usual, but have to admit that of the various 

 " ologies " that should be part of the mental outfit 

 of such as are selected for such employments, I had 

 acquired none when I joined, and did not have the 

 opportunity of using the one I learned later. 



I could indeed, as some writers have done, crib 

 anthropological notes from Schweinfurth, Junker, 

 &c., but they have a right to their own observations. 

 Moreover, much has changed in the last thirty years. 



I will not attempt to describe the scenery, for that is 

 beyond the power of the pen of an artist imbued with 

 the soul of the Sudan, much more of mine. For a 

 list of the fauna or flora, I refer you to people like 

 Messrs. Butler and Broun of the Sudan service. To 

 introduce into the narrative that "the stickjawites 

 Africanus twitters on the bough of the multilettericus, 

 soothing its little mate to sleep," as Emin Pasha does, 

 sounds queer, if learned. 



Personal experience is all I have to offer. It will 

 be that of a pioneer life. I hope its recital will induce 



