SKETCHES IN THE SOUDAN 25 



sheikhs. The black troops are all liberated slaves, chiefly from 

 the White Nile ; $ie liberated female slaves are given them for 

 wives. 



Guinea-fowl and florican were plentiful along the march, and 

 the common gazelle and ariel were seen every day, and one or 

 two shot, for we had no other meat to live upon, and a good 

 many mouths to feed. Guinea-fowl are most readily shot in the 

 early morning, or about sunset, when they drink, but during the 

 day they remain in the dense jungle and are very difficult to 

 find. Florican feed all day long on the river-banks, especially if 

 these are rocky and denuded of bushes, but covered with dry 

 grass ; we used to shoot these handsome and delicious birds 

 from our camels. Gazelles generally feed close to the river 

 during the early hours of the day, on the young shoots of the 

 mimosa bushes, or the aromatic herbs which are sometimes 

 found in the river-bed. Sometimes singly or in twos and threes, 

 sometimes in large herds, they would generally require careful 

 stalking, but the knowledge that one's dinner depended upon 

 killing made the aim all the more steady. The larder supplied, 

 one could watch these graceful animals without speculating on 

 which would make the best soup, or produce the tenderest steak 

 or cutlet, and admire their perfect shape and movements. 

 Directly a gazelle or antelope has fallen, the Arabs rush up 

 to it and cut its throat " in the name of God," before death has 

 actually taken place, for not otherwise would a strict Moham- 

 medan be allowed to eat of it. We had made a rule never to 

 kill more than we required, whereby all waste and unsportsman- 

 like slaughter was prevented. 



Our only water supply during the last fortnight had been 

 obtained from wells dug in the river-bed; at first these were 

 scarce, but as we went higher up the river, and approached the 

 tableland towards the Abyssinian mountains, they became much 

 more frequent, and the water, which at first had been at a great 

 depth, then came nearer the surface. To prevent the wells from 

 falling in, the walls are lined with branches cut from any trees 

 at hand ; yet, after having been unused for some time, a great 

 deal of sand had drifted in, which required to be removed before 

 the water could be reached. It was, as a rule, fit to drink, 

 though not, perhaps, very clear; now and then, however, its 

 taste and smell were so strong, the result of rotting vegetable 



