A STATE DINNER. 51 partial to leather, and committed great havoc among our guncases and portmanteaus.

Before commencing their depredations, they cover whatever they intend to eat, with earth, and work from inside this covering : this I believe they do in order to protect themselves from their natural enemies, the black ants, which are always to be found not far off, on the look out for them. The longer we stayed, the more persistent they became in their attacks ; and it was only by occasionally shifting our tents, that we could obtain any peace. The boxes that contained our provisions, etc., had been made with little legs to rest upon, so that they had to build up these legs before they could obtain a footing inside : nevertheless they would get in, and we often found quantities of them, and the earth they had brought, covering whatever the boxes contained, the paper used to wrap up various things being frequently entirely destroyed. In this way, unless great precautions were taken, cartridges would sometimes get spoilt. In many parts of the country, they are so troublesome that it is found cheaper to use iron telegraph-poles instead of wooden ones, as the latter have so frequently to be renewed.

One evening we dined with the governor, in Turkish fashion, eating with our fingers instead of using knives and forks, — a not very delectable form of entertainment. The dinner was served on a large brass tray placed on a circular table, round which all sat, including some Egyptian officers who had just arrived after a long march, and apparently had not fed for a considerable time. Behind us, immovable as statues, and holding lamps above their heads, were some five or six White Nile slaves. The sweet and meat courses alternated throughout dinner, a rather trying ordeal for the European palate ; but, on the slightest symptom of flagging on our part, the hospitable