Against orders, sent off
so many troops to Khartoum who were in good health, now discovered that
he would be left with a comparatively small force to hold the important
position at head-quarters.
The troops who had been employed under my personal command, were very
anxious to accompany me into the equatorial district.
There was no more fighting. All my hopes of peace were at length
realized. The nights were always undisturbed, and the sentries might
have indulged in sleep without the slightest danger. A dead calm had
succeeded to the excitement of constant watchfulness.
I now employed the "Forty Thieves" in making salt. There were peculiar
surface mines within a mile of my little station. These were situated
upon a sandy loam on the banks of a brackish lake, that swarmed with
crocodiles.
The salt always showed upon the surface after a shower of rain had been
evaporated by the sun. This efflorescence, together with sand and other
impurities, was scraped from the earth with large mussel shells. It was
then placed in earthen-ware vessels containing about five gallons. There
were pierced with holes in the bottom, which were covered with a wisp of
straw as a strainer. The jars, being full of salt and sand, were watered
occasionally, and the brine accordingly filtered through to a receiver.
The contents were boiled, and produced the finest chloride of sodium.
