144 SERVICE AND SPORT IN THE SUDAN 



the solidly built house the Sultan has for his European 

 guests. The first, no doubt, were French. 



At about lo P.M. I ate my Christmas dinner. The 

 next morning I was up late, i.e. 6 a.m. instead of 

 3 A.M. I found a crowd of traders waiting to salaam 

 me. Among them was an immaculately dressed 

 Syrian in a blue serge and topee. If his shirt, instead 

 of being white, had been a pale mauve covered with 

 pink roses, as affected by the average native officer, 

 had he not had on a white collar and quiet tie, I 

 could have placed him, but for a moment I took 

 him for a French or Belgian officer en route, as 

 they have been before, for somewhere he had no 

 right to go. His first words were to wish me a 

 happy Christmas in the name of the merchants, and 

 Tibsherani Eff., arriving just at that moment, at once 

 foregathered with his compatriot. 



Rotting meat, asida (porridge), marissa (beer), and 

 other delicacies were brought by the Sultan for my 

 men. I found my instructions re paying for the 

 men's food — the party was entitled to about is. 6d. 

 worth a day — at the regulation rate not only difficult 

 to execute, as doing so ran counter to all the estab- 

 lished rules of hospitality, but also uifra dig. ; for, 

 although one warned a Sultan that he would be paid 

 for the Government ration alone, it was obvious that 

 we paid just a twentieth of the value supplied. 



There were quite a lot of merchants at Kossinga. 

 Their dreams of buying ivory were, however, to be 

 rudely broken. For some inexplicable reason an 

 ordinance was received wdiereby the purchase of ivory 



