THE EGYPTIAN SUDAN no longer slept in the open, but were glad to withdraw to their tents or tukuls, and the early mornings and evenings were decidedly chilly. In November the nights were very cold, curiously so, and the cold was of that peculiarly penetrating kind which is characteristic of the Sudan. Neither the Greek nor the native bazaar could produce blankets, but one Greek merchant had, seemingly by accident, laid in a good stock of large cotton table-cloths ornamented with a striking pattern of huge flowers and leaves in blue, and these served excellently as blankets and dressing gowns. The servants, who had no clothes to speak of, felt the cold very much, and some of them were dressed up in these table-cloths, with most picturesque results ; the men were delighted, for the love of the SMani folk for garments decorated with large flowered patterns is very great. As the winter advanced the " blacks " felt the cold very much, and all felt it to be regrettable that the funds allotted to the Sirdar to carry on the war were not sufficient to provide these fine fellows with a few comforts in the way of extra blankets, &c. Cases of sickness increased considerably after the river began to fall, and Surgeon-Captains C. S. Spong and P. H. Whiston were kept hard at work the whole day long.

The amusements of the camp were of a limited character. The '* blacks " organized dances among themselves from time to time, and these generally took place at night by the side of a fire. The men ambled about, swaying their bodies and clapping their hands as they shouted doggerel lines about love and war. The more excited grew the dancers the more interesting became the dance ; for they forgot for the moment that they were soldiers in a disciplined army, and reverted to the actions and movements of body which had come down to them from a long line of savage ancestors.

I noticed that when the "blacks" danced among themselves and for their own special amusement, their performances and the words which they shouted were quite different from those with which they favoured their officers. That the blacks attach great importance to this exercise is clear, and I cannot help thinking that they believe they will acquire fresh strength, or some other benefit, by dancing a certain " set " a given number of times. Sometimes after a long morning's work in the sun at the pyramids of Gebel Barkal, a number of the men would arrange themselves in groups and rows, 194