THE CREW 85 



at Hang, about a canoe stolen from the bearers. I was 

 able to see to the case, and, having done so, told the 

 complainants to go home. They insisted on getting 

 the envelope back. They said that without it they 

 would already have been murdered en route a dozen 

 times. I wonder has it yet done its peregrinations. 

 Not if it is not yet worn out. 



At another place, a small square of moderately dry 

 land in the swamp occupied by a couple of huts, our 

 eyes were caught by another long bamboo, with also 

 a letter at the end of it. It was from M'Millan, 

 addressed "to any white man," saying that we were 

 welcome to a stack of wood he had paid for but 

 did not use. 



The trip up the Baro, as the higher and more 

 difficult reach of the Sobat is called, had shown me 

 the sterling qualities of my crew. Of Sharpies one 

 need only say that he was a "white man" — one can- 

 not say so of all, alas ! The head rais was a " dour " 

 old fellow, who took a long time to learn what " must " 

 meant, but when he did, threw himself heart and soul 

 into the job. The second rai's was religious and 

 anxious to please. The third was a wag. The sailors 

 to a man were "gudas," than which one cannot use 

 a more flattering, if untranslatable, Arabic word. I 

 suppose a dictionary would say " Fine brave fellow." 

 I had also five Egyptian gunners. Time and again 

 I heartily endorsed Mahon Pasha's dictum. Finer 

 men I never met. The only failure on board was my 

 own cook, whom, if I could, I would have discharged 

 earlier at Fashoda. 



