THE WEEK BEFORE THE BATTLE _i19 acquired considerable skill in controlling the movements of his master’s donkey with one hand and his master’s machine with the other. Certainly this lugubrious - looking bicycle bore the battle and the breeze wonderfully well, and the maker ought to secure a splendid advertisement out of it; for tyres which can pass unpunctured through the terrors of the mimosa scrub, and refrain from bursting under the rays of a Sudan sun in August, may fairly be recommended for “strong roadster” work in the country lanes of England.

It was almost dark when we reached the camp, which has been called by everyone, as far as I know, ‘“‘Um Teref,” though this is incorrect, for ‘Um Teref” is the name of the village on the opposite bank of the river. Though it was difficult in the twilight to see far ahead of our column, there was no possibility of mistaking the whereabouts of the camp, for the wild music of the Sudanese bands was already in full swing. The first thing these black troops do when they get into camp is to strike up some of their unearthly tunes, and in the absence of more normal appliances they have