74 
SAVAGE SUDAN 
scarce able to see for the living cloud of furious insects 
around my face, and stumbling every second step into some 
hidden hippo-track, a foot deep and more. Thicker and 
thicker swarmed the bees on me till the buzz in my ears 
sounded like a shrill scream rising and falling in varying 
cadence; while masses of them settled on face, ears, 
neck, hands, and arms. I tried to rig a pugaree 
under my helmet — useless anyway; the only result 
was that an extra crowd got inside and stung me all 
over the scalp. Luckily I had wit enough left to leave 
them there. 
Now the sting of a bee is not in itself a serious matter ; 
but the cumulative effect of thousands delivered simul¬ 
taneously can come fairly near being fatal. Between the 
physical pain and the labour of forcing a way through 
tough canes under a tropical sun, I soon became pretty 
well demented. I remember trying to bury my head in 
a hippo-hole among the grass-roots. No good; the 
exasperated legions followed in and I had to fly again. 
Mahomed Maghazi joined me. We tried to light a fire; 
but I realised at once that ere we could get green grass 
to burn I should be stung to death, so continued my 
flight alone. 
The next thing of which I have a definite recollection 
was the appearance of a native savage—whence and how 
Heaven knows—who seized me in his arms, threw me 
on the ground, and belaboured me with something. I 
remember those blows, but not much else till I found 
myself being carried shoulder - high by Abdul Hamil 
and my own crew; they had wrapped me in their 
burnouses and bore me to the gyassa, a mile away. 
The kindness and devotion of these wild Africans 
passes belief; had they been brothers they could have 
done no more. Though being severely stung them¬ 
selves, they bore me along, rolled in their own clothes ; 
four bearers, two others driving off the enemy, the 
seventh shielding my head from the sun. Splendid 
