There was much allowance
to be made for this feeling. The seeds of dangerous disorders, that had
been sown by the malaria of the swamps, had now exhibited themselves in
fatal attacks of dysentery, that quickly formed a cemetery at
Tewfikeeyah.
The Egyptian troops were generally sickly and dispirited, and went to
their daily work in a slouching, dogged manner, that showed their
passive hatred of the employment.
I arranged that the sailors should cultivate a piece of ground with
corn, while the soldiers should be employed in a similar manner in
another position. The sailors were all Nubians, or the natives of
Dongola, Berber, and the countries bordering the Nile in the Soudan.
These people were of the same class as the slave-hunter companies, men
who hated work and preferred a life of indolence, lounging sleepily
about their vessels. I quickly got these fellows into order by dividing
them into gangs, over which I placed separate headmen, the captains of
vessels; one superior officer commanded, and was responsible for the
whole.
They only worked six hours daily, but by this simple organization I soon
had thirty acres of land cleaned. The grass and roots were burnt in
piles, the ashes spread, and the entire field was dug over and sown with
barley, wheat, and dhurra.
