INTRODUCTION xi

the Sudan ; for a kaimakam it is £^20^ also with

allowances ; and for the higher ranks in proportion. The pay in the civil administration is somewhat

higher.

I do not pretend in the following pages to lay down

the law, or even to pose as an authority on things

Anglo-Sudanese except in so far as four years of

service and observation (with less leave than most)

entitles me to do. I venture to think that my ser-

vice covered more interesting and diverse experiences

than is usual, but have to admit that of the various " ologies " that should be part of the mental outfit

of such as are selected for such employments, I had

acquired none when I joined, and did not have the

opportunity of using the one I learned later.

I could indeed, as some writers have done, crib

anthropological notes from Schweinfurth, Junker,

&c., but they have a right to their own observations.

Moreover, much has changed in the last thirty years.

I will not attempt to describe the scenery, for that is

beyond the power of the pen of an artist imbued with

the soul of the Sudan, much more of mine. For a

list of the fauna or flora, I refer you to people like

Messrs. Butler and Broun of the Sudan service. To

introduce into the narrative that "the stickjawites

Africanus twitters on the bough of the multilettericus,

soothing its little mate to sleep," as Emin Pasha does,

sounds queer, if learned.

Personal experience is all I have to offer. It will

be that of a pioneer life. I hope its recital will induce