GORDON AND THE MAHDI. 106 PORTAGE OF WHALE BOATS AT BAB-EL-KEBIR, NEAR WADY HALFA.

stronglybuiltnative boats. "We surmount one rapid," he wrote," andinhalf anhour we have to contend with another. DuringhighNile many of these are,of course, completely submerged,but as the river falls, more and moreof themappear,until at last it becomesimpossible evenfor a nuggar to ascend. After a timeit is possible to comprehend thesystem by which the boatmen navigate, although at first it seems highly bewildering,and to the novice alarming. Everyrapidhasits slack water, sometimeson one side of the river,and sometimeson the other. When we get to the end of one stretch, we shoot across the stream to the other, and so gradually ascend, as ifby somany locks. The dangerous period,of course, is whenstriking across, as the boatis thencarriedrapidly downwards, and if it should fail to reach in time the friendlyeddy on the other side,might be dashedagainst the rocks thatlurk under water,and so be wrecked. At Samneh where the river passes over a ledgeof rock, the boatshave to be hauled alongby manuallabour. Here three hundred of the Mudir of Dongola's men are stationed for the work,and as we showedround the bend of the river they swarmeddown to the beachto meet us. The boat was lightened of most of its cargo, and then, laying onto a hawser,some two hundred yards long, and shouting and singing, the noisy half-naked mob soon pulled her over the fall."

As soonas the Canadians arrivedat Wady Haifa their achievementssurpassed all previous feats,for theypiloted the first batch of boats with which they wereentrusted up the Samneh cataract in the surprisingly short time of six minutes. The general satisfaction caused at this fine performance was damped however by a melancholy accident. The captain of one of the boats, a fine specimen of thevoyageur,namedLouis,overbalanced himself, and fell into the torrent. He was an expert swimmer, but,notwithstanding his own exertionsand the desperate effortsof the Dongoleseswimmersto savehim, he was swept away and drowned. It may here be mentioned that on one occasion a coupleof blue-jackets were drownedinpassing the cataracts, anda similar fate overtook two men of the Sussex regiment,but on the wholetherewereveryfewcasualtiesof thekind. TheNile crocodilesdo not seem to have caused much alarmor to have made many victims. Indeed, the only recorded instance of a crocodile killing a man was when a private of the Sussex regiment fell into the river at Sarrasandwassoseverelybittenthathe died. Strangely enoughhisbody waswashed ashore a few daysafterwards, and it was thenseen that the predatory monster of the Nile had abstainedfromdevouring him.

The hauling of the steamers which were sent up the river for the conveyance of stores or for towing purposes proved extremely difficult. It was necessary to sling themin cables passedunder their keels and secure them with steel hawsers round their hulls, and even then accidents frequently befell them. Some thousands of men were employed in towing the vessels through the intricate and winding passagesamong the granite rocks thatlie in the bed of the river. The various gangs of haulers took their stand at different points, and with much shoutingto eachother contrivedby joint action to bring the vessel'shead, this wayor that, in the direction