238 WITH THE CAMEL CORPS UP THE NILE.

distance. At first I thought it was jackals, but soon the noises turned into a wild sort of moaning I could not understand. At length it dawned on me it was Arabs singing : if they happened to be the enemy, I thought, how on earth am I to keep forty straying camels out of sight of them in the moonlight ? To my relief, they were only a party of friendly Kababish returning to Korti with a few Lights and stores, and they were as much surprised at coming across my party as I was at seeing them. Shortly afterwards we arrived at the Wells, and after a good feed with Nugent, we were all soon sound asleep.

Next morning I gave over my camels and started back, much reduced in numbers. The Wells had a very deserted look. Beyond the General, his staff, and some fifty men wounded or sick in hospital, there was hardly a soul there. The wells themselves were getting very unsweet, through the lowness of the water ; the place bore every sign of a well-used camp, and it was high time to quit.

Halfway back, my advanced file reported Arabs ahead in the grass, and in truth, as I rode up,