Just before the evening shadows cooled the air too much and made a chill possible, we spread our india-rubber baths on the ground and enjoyed the refreshment of a good "tub." The Nile water was so saturated with mud that when one stood in one's bath upon a thick precipitate of sand the sensation recalled the seaside paddling of one's childhood. The tropical twilight was all too brief, and darkness fell suddenly like a pall upon the landscape. Then out came candlesticks and lanterns, and the one substantial meal of the day made its appearance. The quality of our _cuisine_ varied considerably. At a stationary camp like Wad Hamed we sometimes purchased fresh meat from an enterprising Greek called Loisa, but this was always very lean and tough, and these fleshpots of Egypt had few charms for us. The Arabs devour any sort of meat, whatever be the condition of the beast which supplies it. Two days after the battle of Omdurman, Ali appeared before the tent with a wretched kid in the last stage of a rapid decline. He knew I disapproved of loot, and declared that he had purchased the animal, and intended to fry the liver for me for to-morrow's breakfast. As the poor kid was far too ill and weak even to stand on its legs, I declined the suggested dainty. There were quite enough bacilli prowling around in Omdurman without incurring the risk of trichinosis. In less than an hour I saw our quaternion of servants with several guests enjoying a ghoulish banquet off the remains of the invalid animal. Sometimes we had splendid dinners of tinned curry, preserved pine-apple, and other delicacies; and except on the evening of the battle, nobody, as far as I know, ever went without his dinner if he was well enough to eat it. Occasionally, if there was a downpour of rain or other cause which rendered cooking difficult, we sank to this sort of level-- Potage à la Khalifa. (Ingredients--a morsel of emaciated goat with some onions; simmer as long as possible. Sufficient for two. Seasonable, when one is very hungry.) Bully Beef au naturel. Jam. Biscuit à discrétion. Whisky. Sparklets. Lime juice. Nile water.