84 THE DOWNFALL OF THE DERVISHES there a native caught a fish weighing nearly a hundred pounds, which was served up, I[ believe, at the Guards’ mess. When the Nile gets lower, some splendid sport might be enjoyed with these monstrous fish. In fact, when one fishes in a stream like the Atbara, there is a delightful uncertainty about the nature of the prospective catch. One never knows what is coming up. That keen sportsman, the late Sir Samuel Baker, fished in this stream with a live bait 2 lbs. in weight, and landed fish up to 180 Ibs. ! On one occasion he tells how something seized the bait, and would not budge an inch. The dead weight on the line was tremendous, and Sir Samuel says it felt ‘(as if the devil himself had got hold of the hook.” At last, after placing his feet against a rock and pulling, something moved upwards in the water which looked for all the world like a cart wheel.

Finally, up came a huge water-tortoise, which gave one plunge, and broke away with the hook and several yards of line.

By day the vast area occupied by the two British brigades, and various battalions of Sudanese and Egyptians, was full of ceaseless work, accompanied by a perfect babel of