No work possible.
"April 29. - The Englishmen set up their forge and anvil; and we
commenced unloading corrugated iron sheets to form our magazines.
Fortunately, I had a number of wall-plates, rafters, &c., that I had
brought from Egypt for this purpose, as there is no straight wood in the
country.
"The sheik or head of the Shillook tribe sent envoys with a present of
four bullocks and two small tusks, with a message that he wished to see
me, but he was afraid to come. I accordingly sent the messengers back in
the No. 8 steamer with ten soldiers as an escort to bring him to my
station.
"April 30. - We commenced erecting the iron magazines. Lieutenant Baker,
Mr. Higginbotham, and the Englishmen all actively employed, while Raouf
Bey and his officers, instead of attending to the pressing work of
forming the permanent camp, sit under a tree and smoke and drink coffee
throughout the day.
"The artillerymen are nearly all ill; likewise many of the Egyptian
regiment, while the black troops are well and in excellent spirits.
There is no doubt that for this service the blacks are very superior to
the Egyptians: these are full of religious prejudices combined with
extreme ignorance, and they fall sick when deprived of the vegetable
diet to which they are accustomed in Egypt.
"In the evening the steamer returned with the true Shillook king,
accompanied by two of his wives, four daughters, and a retinue of about
seventy people."
CHAPTER IV.
THE CAMP AT TEWFIKEEYAH.
"May 1. - The camp is beginning to look civilized. Already the underwood
has been cleared, and the large trees which border the river have their
separate proprietors. There is no home like a shady tree in a tropical
climate; here we are fortunate in having the finest mimosas, which form
a cool screen. I have apportioned the largest trees among the higher
officers. The English quarter of the camp is already arranged, and the
whole force is under canvas. A few days ago this was a wilderness; now
there are some hundred new tents arranged in perfectly straight rows so
as to form streets. This extensive plot of white tents, occupying a
frontage of four hundred yards, and backed by the bright green forest,
looks very imposing from the river.
"The English quarter was swept clean, and as the surface soil on the
margin of the river was a hard white sand, the place quickly assumed a
neat and homely appearance. I had a sofa, a few chairs, and a carpet
arranged beneath a beautiful shady mimosa, where I waited the arrival of
the true king of the Shillooks - Quat Kare.
"In a few minutes he was introduced by an aide-de-camp, accompanied by
two wives, four daughters, and a large retinue. Like all the Shillooks,
he was very tall and thin. As his wardrobe looked scanty and old, I at
once gave him a long blue shirt which nearly reached to his ankles,
together with an Indian red scarf to wear as a waistband.
