286 UGANDA AND THE EGYPTIAN SOUDAN.

way of the Nile ; a route which was chosen because Colonel Gordon, at that time the Governor-General of the Soudan, had offered to defray the travelling expenses of a party of missionaries, and to forward them through the whole of the vast territory under his rule. This party consisted of the Rev. G.

Litchfield, Messrs. Pearson and Hall, and myself.

"We left England on May 8, 1878, and landed at Suakirn, a port on the Eed Sea, on June 9. At this place Mr. Hall was taken ill, and much to his regret was obliged to return to England.

On June 25 we started from Suakirn with our caravan of forty camels, and in fifteen days reached Berber, where we stayed until July 21.

Our voyage to Khartoum lasted nineteen days ; we took a longer time than is usual, for the engine of the small steamer was out of order, and we also tried to tow four large, heavily-laden boats ; to do this against the strong current was too much for the steamer, so that the engine broke down twentyone times in that short distance. Although the journey was somewhat tedious, it was most interesting. During the enforced delays for the repairs of the engine we were able to make a nearer acquaintance with the people who were at work on the banks of the river ; moreover, it was most instructive to see the two modes of irrigation in action. From the banks of the river gullies run in all directions among the newly sown fields, and at the