The Chief Mechanical Engineer, Mr. McWilliam, Was Engaged In Setting Up
The Steam Saw-Mills, And In A Few Weeks After Our First Arrival In This
Uninhabited Wilderness, The Change Appeared Magical.
In addition to the
long rows of white tents, and the permanent iron magazines, were
hundreds of neat huts
Arranged in exact lines; a large iron workshop
containing lathes, drilling machines, and small vertical saw machine;
next to this the blacksmith's bellows roared; and the constant sound of
the hammer and anvil betokened a new life in the silent forests of the
White Nile. There were several good men who had received a European
mechanical education among those I had brought from Egypt; these were
now engaged with the English engineers in repairing the engine of the
No. 10 steamer, which required a new piston. I ordered a number of very
crooked bill-hooks to be prepared for cutting the tangled vegetation
during our next voyage. The first boat, about sixteen feet long, was
progressing, and the entire station was a field of industry. The gardens
were green with vegetables, and everything would have been flourishing
had the troops been in good health. Those miserable Egyptians appeared
to be in a hopeless condition morally. It was impossible to instil any
spirit into them, and if sick, they at once made up their minds to die.
It is to be hoped that my regiment of convicts was not a fair sample of
the spirit and intelligence of the Egyptian fellah.
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