DULGO while trying to find out if they still existed, and if so, what had become of them. Sir Reginald approved of the suggestion, and, after consultation with Sir Edward Maunde Thompson, K.C.B., Director of the British Museum, applied to the Trustees for the loan of my services, and the Trustees and the Treasury consenting, I was despatched to the Sudan in December to assist Sir Reginald in forming the nucleus of a collection for his proposed museum at Khartum, At Wadi Haifa I was met by Mr. J. W. Crowfoot, Inspector of Education in the Sudan, whom Sir Reginald had appointed to carry out the work with me. This appointment was a very fortunate one, for, apart from his knowledge of the natives and the country, Mr. Crowfoot possessed the official authority necessary to crown our endeavours with success. He provided me with a very comfortable house to live in whilst we were making arrangements for carrying out our work, and the cordial welcome which Major Midwinter and other friends in the Haifa Mess extended to me made the days which I spent there pass very pleasantly. Mr. Crowfoot was able to collect men and tools and materials for our work without much difficulty, and the officials, both military and civil, Major Midwinter, Mr. C. G. Hodgson, the Hon. H. G. G. Pelham, Mr. W. H. Horton, and others, assisted us in a prompt and effective manner. In two days all was ready, and we left Haifa one afternoon with our workmen in a special train. Our destination was Dulgo, or Deljgo as the natives sometimes call it, which is about 170 miles south of Haifa. Our plan was to go there without delay, and to examine all the sites on both banks of the river between that place and Sarras. Major Midwinter had given us a very good coach wherein we could lay out our beds, and as there was a kitchen at one end of it and a sir, or water jar, on a firm stand and full of fresh Nile water, we travelled in comfort. Mr. Crowfoot's cook was an experienced and resourceful man, and the youth I engaged at Haifa to look after me was very sharp and attentive. He was small for his age, but he had travelled as servant in many parts of the Sudan with Englishmen and knew their ways, and, as • Burckhardt has " Delligo." {Travels, p. 65.)

437