I 



TRAVELS TN EASTERN AFRICA 



23 



of a chocolate colour ; he carried his head forward, as 

 though in the act of avoiding a blow ; his eyes were 

 furtive in expression, and the slightest movement of his 

 hands seemed to lead to a deprecating shrug of his 

 shoulders. He alone, of all my Soudanese, lacked the 

 martial bearing of a soldier. 



During these interviews, Ramazan translated fluently 

 and, as far as possible, with dignity the ridiculous com- 

 plaints of his superior. After a short experience I 

 came to the conclusion that, although it would be impol- 

 itic to check these complaints, it was a prodigal waste 

 of time to listen to them. So, at the end of a long 

 harangue, I would dismiss Mahomet el Hussein with as 

 pleasant a smile as I could conjure up, and an assur- 

 ance that I would look into the matter. This method 

 of dealing with the complaints achieved the result antici- 

 pated and intended. The men, discovering that their 

 choice of Balook Bashi was an unsatisfactory one, treated 

 this officer with all the contempt he deserved, and paved 

 a way toward a change of my relations with them. Find- 

 ing the complaints made through their chief officer were 

 unheeded, the Soudanese began to come individually to 

 make their statements, and by this means I was able 

 to gather a more or less clear knowledge of the indi- 

 vidual character of each. 



One among the Soudanese, Juma Moussa by name, 

 I soon discovered was at the bottom of every complaint 

 made, no matter by which of the men it was presented. 

 This man was a native of Wadai, a kingdom situated 

 in the very centre of Africa, and lying between the 

 province of Bahr el Ghazal and the kingdom of Bornu. 

 In early youth he had. wandered with a caravan to 



