THE EGYPTIAN SUDAN Turkish dates, which sell freely in London. It is hopeless to expect the shekhs of the district to work such an undertaking successfully, for they have neither the business qualifications of the kind necessary, nor capital ; if it is ever done, the initiating and controlling power must be European.

Our stay at Kosha was prolonged somewhat because we were obliged to wait for a train from Kerma, and we did not succeed in leaving until Saturday evening (we had arrived on the Monday) ; the railway authorities allowed us to keep the saloon coach at Kdsha whilst we were collecting antiquities, and we therefore returned to Sarras in comfort. The train to which we were coupled was heavily loaded with railway lines, and the engine succeeded in climbing the gradients only with the greatest difficulty ; on one section of the journey the engine was placed in the middle of the train, and men had to walk on each side of her and throw sand on the rails. We descended the hill leading down to Ambikol Wells at a dashing pace, for the load was a heavy one, and the only breaks used were those on the engine. We arrived at Sarras a little before dawn, and as soon as the Omdah was out of bed the Inspector sent for him, and told him to get a boat ready for us to sail up to Semna, where we had some work to do. When the boat arrived the men loaded the planks, ropes, picks, &c , into it with our luggage, but this work occupied a considerable time, for the river bank is very steep at Sarras, and we had to make detours so as to avoid destroying the crops sown on it. We started with a strong north wind behind us, and in about an hour reached a village, where we landed so that the boat might be used in ferrying our camels across to the western bank. We decided to send our servants on with the camels to Semna, so that they might prepare a place to sleep in, and have a meal ready by the time we arrived in the evening. Whilst the camels were being ferried across we went and sat in a hut in the village, which is the most miserable I have ever seen in the Sudan, The huts are made of stones and mud loosely piled together against the hillsides, and many of them are only partially roofed over. There are no palm trees to give shade, and the natives told us that the Dervishes had cut down every tree they could find in the district because the people would not join their rebellion. This 472 1