THE EGYPTIAN SUDAN ** lift " the engine, and carry out some repairs. This work, however, gave one the opportunity of examining the station, which was full of interest. Its most prominent feature is the large "triangle," which takes the place of the turn-table in European termini and works. The next point of interest is the well, from which about twelve thousand gallons a day are pumped up by steam into a large tank built upon pillars ; it is about seventy feet deep, and its water, though not pleasant to take, is LOCOMOTIVE DRIVERS AND OFFICIALS OF NO. 6 STATION ON THE sODAN MILITARY RAILWAY IN 1897.

drinkable. It is not so heavily charged with salts as the bitter water of Ambigol Wells, and is far less injurious to the constitution of locomotive boilers. There were no residents at No. 6 except railway employees, and no habitations except their little houses, and nothing could be bought there, and yet this desert railway centre was of singular interest. My companion on the train introduced me to his colleagues, who kindly invited me to cook my breakfast on their stove, and subsequently took me round the place and explained the working of the well, and showed me many things of interest connected with the working of the line. They 246 I