The younger
girls and the boys of the establishment exclaimed, "Mashallah! Old
Karka! who would have believed it?"
It was curious to observe the difference between my station and that of
head-quarters at Gondokoro: at one, all was contentment and good order;
in the other, discontent and disorder.
I had constant complaints from Mr. Higginbotham that my orders, that he
should be supplied with men for public works, were disobeyed, and that
every obstacle was thrown in his way.
My Englishmen had been, as usual, very industrious and having erected
the iron magazines, they were now engaged in building a flat-bottomed
barge to assist in transporting corn from the islands south of Regiaf.
They had not been in the best health, but they nevertheless continued to
work with an energy and spirit that were a delightful contrast to the
sluggishness and apathy of the Egyptians.
Immediately on my return from Belinian, I had given orders that thirty
vessels should be prepared to return to Khartoum.
