FROM THE ATBARA TO WAD HAMED 75 tion, and the sound of the brutal strokes he showered upon the servant were audible far away. The foul abuse bellowed at servants frequently made our camp a disgrace to the zeriba. Everybody in the East swears at his servants, but still—whether the proposition be ethically sound or not—there is a gentlemanly way of swearing—brief and incisive, and not intended to reach the ears of others than the delinquent.

Moreover, if one treats one’s Arab servants with kindness and firmness withal, they generally do their best, and often become quite devoted to their master. When after the battle Mr. Villiers was lost for some time, and fears were entertained about him, his servant was full of genuine distress and anxiety. If, on the other hand, no tie exists between master and servant except fear of the 4urbash and the loss of the paltry wages, what can one expect in the way of zeal and devotion?

The yells and screams of fury which commenced at daybreak, and often made night hideous in the correspondents’ camp, were never heard amongst the officers, who surely had infinitely more to put up with in the way