A PATROL ON THE ATBARA 
BY 
MAJOR G. E. BENSON, R.A. 
[A map accompanies this article, on which the ronto taken is shown by means of a white 
engraved line.] 
I WAS strolling in the bazaar at Asmara, the summer capital of 
the Italian colony of Erytrea, on the evening of 19th March, 
1898, when I saw a native passing me with a telegram in his hand. 
My eye caught my own name on the envelope so I stopped the man 
and found that it was for me and that he bad followed me that day from 
Az Teclesan, some twenty-five miles back. On opening the telegram, 
I found it was from Colonel Parsons, commanding at Kassala, and it 
ordered me to proceed at once to that place for duty, the Sirdar hav¬ 
ing applied for my services owing to the sickness and scarcity of 
British officers in the Eastern Soudan. I was at the time en route 
for England at the expiration of a three months leave spent in a tour 
through Erytrea, and had only arrived at Asmara an hour or two be¬ 
fore. However, I at once went to the Italian officer in charge of trans¬ 
port arrangements and thanks to his kind assistance, I was enabled to 
start at 4 a.m. next day on a Government mule for Kassala, distant 
nearly 240 miles. My baggage and servant I left to follow on as best 
they could, as they would take at least a fortnight to accomplish the 
journey. Riding twelve to fifteen hours a day, and accompained by 
escorts of native soldiers on foot beyond Agordat, I arrived at Kassala 
at 8 p.m. on the 24th—good going for that country and at that time 
of the year, considering the absence of a moon made it necessary to 
travel through the heat of the day—and I thoroughly enjoyed my 
dinner in the brigade mess, established in the old factory built by 
Muntzinger Pasha. 
Next morning I was given command of the Arab irregulars and some 
seventy ancient blacks who looked after about the same number of 
slave department camels of which barely half were fit for work, owing 
to mange, sore backs, &c. I also had general charge of the defences 
and supervision of the patrolling work. 
Owing to scarcity of officers, the irregulars had not previously been 
under the direct command and supervision of a British officer, and 
therefore there was plenty of work to be done. Some 150 of them had 
been taken over from the Italians and further companies or bands were 
in course of being raised in order to bring up the numbers to between 
300 and 400 men. To get them all in hand, it was necessary to 
practice some simple drill and manoeuvre formations. For this I de¬ 
cided to invent some Arab words of command, supplemented, where- 
L VOL. XXVI. 
