li CHAPTER V.

MERAWI AND SANAM ABU DOM IN 1897.

I Having now mentioned the principal ancient remains which exist in the neighbourhood of Merawi on the east bank, and of Sanam Abu Dom on the west bank of the Nile, it may not be out of place to describe briefly the appearance which this portion of the Nile Valley presented in the summer of 1897, when those two masterful men, the Sirdar and the Khalifa, were engaged in fighting for the possession of the Sudan. Taking first the Sirdar's camp, we know that it stretched along the west bank for about two and a half miles, and though in the day time it seemed insignificant, by night, especially when there was no moon, the lights and fires which twinkled from one end to the other of it made it appear to be endless. The Headquarters of the Frontier Field Force of the Egyptian Army were nearly opposite to the village of Merawi. The most prominent building there was the comparatively large mud house occupied by General Leslie Rundle. It was built by a Greek merchant, and was said to possess a roof which would keep out rain, but as it was never subjected to the test, the statement was merely regarded as one invented by the owner to obtain the highest rent possible. The house contained one large room, which the owner had intended for a reception room, and one small one ; in the former General Rundle transacted business, and in the latter he and some of his officers messed. Outside the larger room was a courtyard with a low wall running round it, and behind the small room was a kind of shed which served as a kitchen. In the summer this house was comparatively cool and comfortable, but in the winter it was almost the last place a man would choose for a dwelling, on account of the draughts. Turning to the left by the path along the river bank, the first hut met with was that of Colonel C. Long, R.A., the kind and fearless officer VOL. I. 177 N