ARRIVED AT KASSALA—DESCRIPTION OF KASSALA—WE BUY CAMELS AND HORSES—THE MUDIR GIVES A DINNER—JULES’ DEATH AND BURIAL—HY?NAS—ARAB PATIENTS—MAHOOM’S HISTORY—DEMETRIUS MOSCONAS ON SLAVERY—MENAGERIE AT KASSALA.

We arrived at Kassala at 8 p.m., and found the camp pitched about a quarter of a mile, or less, from it, close to a garden full of fine trees of various kinds; in fact, between this garden and a very wide river bed. This river is here called the Gash, but nearer to Abyssinia it is called the Mareb. Jules’ exhaustion and pulseless condition was most alarming. I succeeded in obtaining some eggs and milk; these I mixed with brandy, and had this mixture administered to him every half-hour.

Whilst we were dining, at 9 p.m., we heard the peculiar cry of hy?nas, which literally swarm round[145] the camp at night and make an awful row. I daresay there would be 150 or 200 come round every night after dark, and when we retired to our tents, and the lights were put out, they would not only come close to, but actually into the camp; I can assure the reader that I am not, as it is called, drawing the long bow when I say that I have seen one poke his head in at my tent door more than once. We remained here many days, and sometimes the hy?nas would be so troublesome and noisy that it was a by no means uncommon thing for one of us to get up in the night, go to the edge of the camp in our night-shirt and discharge the contents of one or two barrels into the noisy crowd. This had a quieting effect, and we often found one or two dead hy?nas in the morning, the rest having scampered off.

We found Kassala a very warm place, for in the middle of January the thermometer registered 90° in the shade. It is situated about 1,900 feet above the level of the sea, is surrounded by a wall made of mud bricks baked in the sun, and plastered over with mud and the refuse of cows. The wall is loop-holed for musketry, and surrounded by a deep fosse. The exports of the Soudan are ivory, hides, gum arabic, senna, bees’ wax, and honey—the latter obtained chiefly from the Abyssinian border.

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The Kassala Mountain, which is just outside Kassala, is an enormous, almost perpendicular, mass of granite, several thousand feet in height, rising straight out of the plain, and can be seen for many miles in all directions. The population was in 1882, something like 25,000, without reckoning the garrison, which consisted of about 1,000 Nubian troops.

There are large numbers of cows, goats, sheep, and camels in the neighbourhood, and a great deal of camel-breeding is carried on here.

When I left England, the thought occurred to me that it would be a good idea to take out some knives, razors, beads, and so forth, both as presents and for barter. I, therefore, provided myself with some common knives, about a dozen of a better class, and half-dozen hunting-knives from Mr. T. B. Hague, of Sheffield; a couple of dozen of Mappin and Webb’s, and Heiffer’s shilling razors, which were much prized by the Arabs. These I found very useful at Kassala, as I bartered some of them for a dozen beautiful long ostrich feathers, and a handful of shorter ones. The natives were well pleased, and so was I.

January 8th.—We were now comfortably encamped, but, alas! too late for Jules, who was fearfully emaciated and prostrate. I visited his[147] tent twice in the night, at one and four o’clock, but could do very little more for him, and I fear he will soon go. All the camels that we hired at Souakin will have to return there with their drivers. One reason our friends preceded us to Kassala was to let it be known that we wanted to buy or hire camels. The result was not exactly what we anticipated, for they kept them back awhile. When at last they were brought for inspection, the most extravagant prices were demanded, whilst many of them were absolute screws. We also required a few little horses for hunting purposes; the dealers were as knowing as horse-dealers in England, and that is saying a great deal.

January 9th.—Jules is evidently sinking fast. I visited his tent five times in the night, but could do little for him beyond giving him drink twice. Mr. W. James and Mr. Aylmer had taken lessons in photography before leaving England, and were each provided with a good apparatus. With these they took many interesting views in different parts of the country. This day the Mudir (Governor) of Kassala sent his two little boys and ponies to be photographed. Whilst we were at breakfast to-day an Arab brought two playful little leopards, which he had stolen from their nest. I could have bought them for a couple of dollars each, and probably[148] should have done so had I been on my way home. The Mudir paid us a visit at noon, inviting us all to dine with him; but Mr. Phillipps and I could not go on account of Jules’s illness, which now will be of short duration. I understood afterwards from those who did go that the dinner consisted of 15 or 18 courses. About 5 p.m. I visited Jules, and found him asleep, but evidently sinking. Mahoom, who was my servant during the whole campaign—and a very good boy he was, too—attended well to him, and frequently sat up at nights with him. At 10 p.m. poor Jules breathed his last. The particulars of his illness, together with other curious and interesting medical notes, can be found in an article of mine in the British Medical Journal, September 23rd and 30th, 1882. As soon as he was dead I washed and laid him out. M. Demetrius Mosconas, a Greek living in Kassala, was good enough to at once see about some kind of coffin, covered with black cloth, shaped thus—
Sketch of a coffin shape

This was to be sent early in the morning.

January 10th.—At 10 a.m. the coffin was brought. Jules was put in it. On the corpse were laid sprays of green shrubs all ro............