THE BOMBASHir We pitched our tents just outside the governor's house, and close to an empty hut, of which we took possession for our men and luggage. We had expected to find an old friend of last year in the governor of Amedeb, as a very intelligent White Nile negro, whom we had left last year in authority at Sanheit, had been transferred there ; but he was absent, and a Turk, a military man, was taking his place. We lost no time in g'omg to see him, and found him very civil, ar;id about the most energetic man I ever came across in the Soudan. The natives called him the ''Bombashi," which is a Turkish expression, signifying captain of a thousand soldiers. We found that the news of our trouble with the Dembelas had preceded us. Immediately on hearing of it, the Bombashi had telegraphed to the Bey at Cassala, telling him of it, and asking why he had allowed us to go into that country without an escort of soldiers. He replied, that we had told him we were going into the Hamran country (which belongs to the government), and that he had sent to the authorities at Jireh, where an Egyptian fort has lately been erected, telling them to look after us ; but that they had sent back word that we had not been there. He said that he had sent messengers after us to Jireh, and two letters.

We explained to the Bombashi, that we had never told the Bey we were going to the Hamrans, as we had never intended visiting that part of the country, which had been visited by so many Englishmen that it was quite shot out. He promised to do what he could towards helping us to recover our rifles, but was not very hopeful about it. He told us that the Dembelas had only lately killed forty Beni-Amers in Khor Baraka, and driven off a great number of cattle. Some of our native servants had said that Sheik Arri, who is the most powerful of the Beni-Amer chiefs on Khor Baraka, and with whom we had had a good deal to do the previous winter, was at that