i68 SERVICE AND SPORT IN THE SUDAN 



term means " miners," having reference to the copper 

 mines about fifty miles away, which they worked — was 

 a weird little man. He was supposed to be a sort of 

 Macbeth, which perhaps accounted for his jumpy 

 manner. He was about thirty-five years of age at 

 the time, 5 feet 3 inches in height, with a wizened, 

 frightened face. He was later deposed in 1908. I left 

 Kafiakingi the same afternoon, leaving behind me the 

 escort I had had till then, and taking a few men who 

 had been sent there by Fell to form a post. My destina- 

 tion was Hofrat el Nahas ("the holes of copper"), 

 reputed to be one of Solomon's mines. 



Just after starting I noticed that one of the younger 

 soldiers, who had accompanied me from Dem Zubeir, 

 had attached himself to my party. He was a fine, big 

 Niam-Niam, his teeth filed in true cannibal style. He 

 explained his presence by saying that where his officer 

 went he followed. 



Nine men and two carriers formed my party. As 

 there was no road most of the way, I decided that we 

 should keep together (a quite unnecessary precaution). 

 Our night halt was at a bend of the Barada River, one 

 of the sources of the Bahr el Arab. 



There has been some discussion as to the name of 

 the river. My successor maintained that it was Bahr 

 (river), 'Aada (custom). Apart from the fact that 

 having heard, previous to reaching it, discussions on 

 the subject, I personally made very searching inquiries 

 on the spot, and without trying to explain the differ- 

 ence of pronounciation, it is merely necessary to point 

 out that Bahr 'Aada is not Arabic. It should be Bahr 



