458 



THROUGH JUNGLE AND DESERT 



CHAP. 



ing the shots he went out, and found the Soudanese 

 standing in Hne with their guns pointed at him. 

 They told him to go, or they would fire. He asked 

 them what the matter was, and they said that they 

 had got bad news (khabar batal), and were going 

 away. They then fired more shots, and went off at 

 a dead run. 



I got my men together and pursued them, but to 

 no purpose. They did not take the main road to the 

 river, but ran among the bushes ; so after having 

 looked for them a couple of hours I returned. 



I was greatly perplexed ; the desertions of both 

 porters and Soudanese were effected suddenly, and 

 no reason assigned. If the Soudanese had intended 

 at first to desert, why had they, three of them at 

 least, when the porters were drawn up in the line 

 before the zeriba, stood behind me and expressed 

 willingness to assist me in every way } The Sou- 

 danese, too, had come all the way from Massowa, and 

 they knew perfectly well it would be impossible for 

 them to collect pay by any means at Zanzibar ; but, 

 on the contrary, it was more probable that the Italian 

 consul would imprison them immediately upon their 

 arrival at that place. 



Now that the Soudanese had joined the porters, I 

 thought it probable that we should receive a visit 

 from the deserters in a body. Hamidi had not sent 

 word since his final departure ; but it was possible 

 that while in camp he might have had some commu- 

 nication with the Soudanese ; and now that my force 

 in the zeriba was so reduced, it was quite on the 

 cards that the deserters might return and destroy 



