GORDONS BLACKS. 209 As this looked still more like immediate evacuation, two or three of us went "down town" to collect what we could in the shape of curios from the natives, and especially from Gordon's Soudanese, since we might not see them again. These latter inhabited an extraordinary little enclosure, called by courtesy a zeriba, about 200 yards off the river fort, and further up stream. They had been put there in order to prevent treachery or possible mutiny, and were thus well under the fire of both our forts. These precautions seemed unnecessary as far as the blacks were concerned, for they seemed thoroughly trustworthy, and anxious to stick to us, if only for the sake of plenty of fighting. Their officers, however, were a slippery lot, composed of Egyptians, Turks, Cypriotes, Greeks, Bashi Bazouks, and the scum of all southern Europe.

They were not to be depended on like the negroes, and a very small disaster would have turned their sympathies and services over to the enemy. The interior of the zeriba was a wonderful sight. The whole place was filled with shanties made of poles and matting or ragged carpets, and inside