THE EGYPTIAN SUDAN driver who, when he found bearings running hot, would stop the engine and get down and unscrew the bolts, and then go on again without the least misgiving as to the result ! Strange to say, nothing serious happened for a time, but the day came when his engine wrecked itself, and hurt him badly in doing so.

When at length we were able to go on again the dawn was breaking, and a more wonderful sight of its kind cannot be THE ABU-HAMED DESERT.

imagined. As the light grew stronger it showed at all points of the compass a sandy waste, which seemed to be absolutely interminable. Here and there were seen in the distance some low hills, but nowhere was there any sign of life except on and near the narrow track whereon the train rolled. A very few yards away from the railway, on each side, the desert had all the appearance of never having been disturbed from the time when, according to some, it emerged from the sea. The railway itself did not seem out of place in that desert, nor did the gaunt telegraph posts, to which the sun, and the wind, and the driving sand had 244