GUNBOATS AND GAALIN 207 she foundered. On the return journey from Omdurman I noticed that part of the funnel was still out of the water, and a twelve-pounder gun projected from the stern battery a couple of feet above the stream. The whole party bivouacked on shore that night in rather a destitute condition. Nobody seemed to know how the leak was caused, but from the time the inrush of water was noticed, at 5.40, only eleven minutes elapsed before the vessel sank.

A few stores had been saved, and off these the shipwrecked officers made a meal. Everyone by good luck had managed to land in his helmet, but otherwise the clothing of the party was rather nondescript. Prince Christian, for example, had nothing left except a pair of trousers and a canvas shirt. Next morning the natives dived about the wreck and fished out some odds and ends of clothing and baggage. At midday on the 26th, Major Drage, D.S.O., happened to pass up the river in the Z£/ Zahra, and conveyed the Zaphzr's crew to Rojan Island, where Commander Keppel transferred his flag to the Sxétan, accompanied by Prince Christian and Major Dodd.