Preferred a
life of out-door independence, and fell off in condition if confined to
a house. The worst flies were the small grey species, with a long
proboscis, similar to those that are often seen in houses in England.
[*Footnote: After the Khedive's eldest son, Mahomed Tewfik Pacha]
In an incredibly short time the station fell into shape. I constructed
three magazines of galvanized iron, each eighty feet in length, and the
head storekeeper, Mr. Marcopolo, at last completed his arduous task of
storing the immense amount of supplies that had been contained in the
fleet of vessels.
This introduced us to the White Nile rats, which volunteered their
services in thousands, and quickly took possession of the magazines by
tunneling beneath, and appearing in the midst of a rat's paradise, among
thousands of bushels of rice, biscuits, lentils, &c. The destruction
caused by these animals was frightful. They gnawed holes in the sacks,
and the contents poured upon the ground like sand from an hour-glass, to
be immediately attacked and destroyed by white ants. There was no lime
in the country, nor stone of any kind, thus it was absolutely impossible
to stop the ravages of white ants except by the constant labour of
turning over the vast masses of boxes and stores, to cleanse them from
the earthen galleries which denote their presence.
I had European vegetable seeds of all kinds, and having cleared and
grubbed up a portion of forest, we quickly established gardens. The
English quarter was particularly neat. The various plots were separated
by fences, and the ground was under cultivation for about two acres
extending to the margin of the river. I did not build a house for
myself, as we preferred our comfortable diahbeeah, which was moored
alongside the garden, from the entrance of which, a walk led to a couple
of large shady mimosas that formed my public divan, where all visitors
were received.
In a short time we had above ground sweet melons, watermelons, pumpkins,
cabbages, tomatoes, cauliflowers, beet-root, parsley, lettuce, celery,
&c., but all the peas, beans, and a very choice selection of maize that
I had received from England, were destroyed during the voyage. Against
my express orders, the box had been hermetically sealed, and the
vitality of the larger seeds was entirely gone. Seeds should be simply
packed in brown paper bags and secured in a basket.
The neighbouring country was, as usual in the White Nile districts, flat
and uninteresting. Forest and bush clothed the banks of the river, but
this formed a mere fringe for a depth of about half a mile, beyond which
all was open prairie.
Although there was a considerable extent of forest, there was a dearth
of useful timber for building purposes.
