172 SERVICE AND SPORT IN THE SUDAN 



be taken. The Sultan and merchants turned up 

 smihng and pohte. Andal Abdulahi with two wives 

 and two bazingers surrendered himself to Tibsherani, 

 and we moved off. 



On the road we crossed a number of quite important 

 rivers. For example, before reaching J, Busa, there 

 was the Vongo, Diofo, and Reikei, all about lo yards 

 broad, with banks 12 feet high, and slightly rocky 

 beds ; and the Sirri with 5-feet banks, and 82 yards 

 sandy bed. Near the latter, one of our prisoners 

 refused to walk another step. Examination by the 

 doctor showed him to be all right, so I handed him 

 over to a special guard so as not to delay the rest 

 of the party. He did not turn up at our camp near 

 J. Busa. There I left Tibsherani Eff. while I went 

 on at a faster rate. I had halted for the day near 

 a pool of water, and was trying with the aid of my 

 mosquito curtain — which almost suffocated me, the 

 heat was so great — to avoid the attentions of some 

 particularly persistent tsetse fly, when I saw one of the 

 Jehadia approaching our encampment. I could not 

 make out what he could be doing, as I knew that 

 my own party were all present, and that the party 

 in rear could not possibly have caught us up. We 

 had gone quite forty miles. He was the bearer of 

 the following letter — a letter which I cherish as one 

 of my most treasured possessions : — 



'' To Inspector W. D., B. cl G. 



" I beg to inform you that ' Kadi ' the man in 

 charge of the merchant prison came just now (at 



