196 " CREWE JUNCTION " OF THE NILE west, it may well deserve the name of the " Crewe Junction " of the Nile.

Providence orders a certain fitness in the materials which are placed ready to hand for the use of mankind, and of these the natives avail themselves. The mud which the Arabs employ for their huts is fairly resistent of heat ; bricks are made for the white man, being dried in the sun. In the dry season grass walls have their advantages, letting the breezes pass through ; but summer brings tropical rain, and thatched roofs often leak—in fact, it is often difficult to find a dry spot in a hut at these times. Civilization brought with it corrugated iron, with a lining of wood for its roofs. It did not stop there, but constructed whole houses and stables, which roasted their inmates. Of all the contrivances for the discomfort of members of the animal kingdom, perhaps the earliest designs of the tin house adopted in the Sudan were the worst in a broihng hot climate, and men have often resumed life in their huts as a matter of preference.

Double roofs are sometimes arranged, but the eaves cannot be left open to allow of a current of air, on account of the thousands of bats which would take refuge thereunder. Broad verandahs and much greater intramural air-spaces are now provided, with quite satisfactory results.

Considering the discomforts and dangers under which pioneers labour, and the devotion they show in performance of duties, one may well urge that their housing be made a matter of paramount con-