324 WITH KITCHENER IN THE SOUDAN Are we going to put on those Dervish dresses at once, master? They came yesterday evening.”

‘‘No; I sha’n’t change till we get to the place where we land.”

As soon as he had breakfasted he told Zaki to carry his portmanteau, bed, and other belongings to the house that served as a store for General Hunter’s staff. He waited until his return, and then told him to take the two rifles, the packets of ammunition, the spears, and the Dervish dresspss down to the steamer. Then he joined the General, who was just starting with his staff to superintend the embarkation.

Three steamers were going up, and each towed a barge, in which the greater part of the troops was to be stowed, and in the stern of one of these knelt two camels.

“ There are your nags, Mr. Hilliard,” the General said. “ There is an attendant with each. They will manage them better than strangers, and without them we might have a job in getting the animals ashore. Of course I shall take the drivers on with us. The sheik told me the camels are two of the fastest he has ever had. He has sent saddles with them and water-skins. The latter you will probably not want if all goes well ; still, it is better to take them.”

“ I shall assuredly do so, sir. They may be useful to us on the ride, and though I suppose the camels would do well enough without them, it is always well to be provided, when one goes on an expedition, for any emergency that may occur.”

An hour later the steamer started. The river was still full and the current rapid, and they did not move more than five miles an hour against it. At the villages they passed the people flocked down to the banks with cries of welcome and the waving of flags. They felt now that their deliverance was accomplished, and that they were free from the tyranny that had for so many years oppressed them. The banks were for the most part low, and save at these villages the journey was a monotonous one. The steamers kept on their way till nightfall, and then anchored.