2 AN UNPROMISING OUTLOOK,

the Soudan, and have the character of being a very treacherous

and unfriendly people ; so that it was not only on the part of

the Egyptian officials that we expected to have obstacles thrown

in our way, but we felt sure that we should have considerable

difficulty in getting camel-drivers and servants to undertake the

journey. Then, too, the Base, dwelling as they do between

Egyptian and Abyssinian territory, would naturally be jealous

of any one entering their country through that of their power-

ful Egyptian neighbours, and might think, that, instead of being

bent purely on travel and sport, we were really come on behalf

of the Egyptian Government, to endeavour to squeeze taxes

out of them, and to reduce them to submission.

On our arrival in Cairo, we heard that we should probably

be delayed for some three or four weeks before we could find

a steamer to take us to Souakim (the port on the Red Sea from

which we wished to make our start into the interior), owing to

the existing quarantine regulations. In consequence of the

prevalence of cholera in India and at Aden, all steamers going

from an Arabian to an African port were subjected to quaran-

tine on their arrival.

The only regular steamers calling at Souakim are those of

the Khedivial Company ; and they, as a rule, call at ports on

both sides of the Red Sea, in their voyages up and down.

The steamers of the Rubbatino Company are also advertised

to stop at Souakim, but they are, at the best of times, most

irregular; and, when we wished to go, their "fleet" had been

reduced to one steamer, the " Messina," and even she had, for

the time being, been withdrawn from the service, owing to the

quarantine.

Most of the steamers, moreover, were keeping to the Ara-

bian ports, while several were being done up at Alexandria :

so that there was only one steamer, the Zagazig," performing