io8 SERVICE AND SPORT IN THE SUDAN 



It barely deserves the name, for it was merely a strip 



of light green grass in a plain of brown. I have 



always admired Sharpies for his plunge into the plain, 



for his would have been the explanation to make had 



we piled the Abu Klea high and dry on it. We 



backed our luck, short of fuel as we were, trusting 



that we should not be obliged to pole the steamer 



back. We continually had to clear the stern-wheel 



of tangled grasses, and at one halt I rigged up a 



ladder on the quarter-deck to see what lay before us. 



Should nothing be sighted we should have to turn 



back and, on the coal that remained, get as near the 



last past bushes as possible. I descried a small wood, 



which showed at first as a slight haze. Eureka ! we 



have found what we were looking for, so there was 



now no talk of turning. We moved into our position 



at the wood on our last pound of steam, having for 



an hour before helped the steamer along by poling. 



This just shows what splendid material I had on 



board. The wood, 200 by 200 yards, stood solitary 



on the plain. It was composed of talh trees, six to 



nine inches in diameter, and waist deep in water. 



