THE EGYPTIAN SUDAN came handy, were five Englishmen ; they were clothed somewhat scantily, and were very hot, and were horribly bored at the delay which they had to suffer. They were five war correspondents from England, namely, Mr. Payne Knight, the brilliant author of " Where Three Empires Meet," and correspondent of the Times ; Mr. Fred Villiers, the veteran correspondent of the Standard; Mr. Scudamore, who represented the Daily News ; the late Mr. Maud, whose exxellent pictures of Sudan towns and scenes of native life have charmed thousands of readers of the Graphic ; and Mr. Gwynne, Renter's " Special Correspondent " in the Sudan. They all were exceedingly kind to me, but were sorely puzzled to know what my business was in the SMan, and why it was I had been allowed by the Sirdar to travel from Cairo to Kerma in ten and a half days, while the same journey had taken them several weeks to perform. They were all very earnest, and very anxious to get to the front and wire home news as to the events which were happening in the neighbourhood of Abu Hamed and Berber, and they chafed sorely at the delays imposed on them by the Sirdar. They were provided with tents and a good supply of tinned food, which they carried in long, narrow boxes very suitable for camel transport, and it was good to find that the managers of the newspapers which they represented supplied their wants in no niggardly manner. Their supplies permitted them to give me several meals, and as in those days in the Sudan ordinary food was scarce, and could not be bought, such kindness was most acceptable. The heat on the steamer was stifling, and we wandered about in the night vainly trying to find a place where the heat thrown out by the boiler and smokestack could not be felt ; there was no room for unrolled beds, so each man slept as best he could on his blanket or rug, in any place which seemed cooler than the rest of the deck.

Soon after the "false dawn," and about that time of the night when a wave of cool air passes over the desert, the crew began to haul in chains and ropes, and after a great deal of pushing with poles, the A bu Klea got under way, and steamed out into midstream. The coolness of the dawn was very refreshing, and under the influence of early tea the Sirdar's restrictions seemed less galling to the correspondents. The scene on the steamer and 100 1