A CARGO OF LADIES 193 panied by double-decked sandals, or barges, carrying a consignment of women-folk from Kodok to Tewfikieh, where their husbands, the soldiers, awaited them. The crowd was enormous ; one could scarcely have picked one's way through them. When it comes to remembrance what a hullabaloo even two native women create when they talk, the resultant from scores comes within measurable distance of rivalling the volume of sound produced in the tea-room of a ladies' club in London. It was preferable to the latter, being in the open air, but at night proved disturbing, and stern measures had to be taken.

Some of the women were girls of Tolodi, a locality some days west of Kodok, where a rising took place in 1906, resulting in the murder of the Egyptian JNIamur who was in charge, and of a number of his soldiers.

The colour of these young women much resembled the even, blacklead tint noticeable in the Basuto in South Africa, and stood in pleasant contrast to the somewhat dirty chocolate of the Arabs.

Where the country is so consistently flat, a slight rise comes as an agreeable variety, and when crowned with thick-foliaged trees Elysium seems to be reached. Amongst the prettiest spots on the river was one such locality, when a large grove of palms was divided in two by a small number of huts. It is noticeable in the Sudan that the native does not cultivate trees round his 13