Crawley opened his big artist’s umbrella, which should have been a successful aid to comfort, but it tried conclusions with the wind and was worsted. We started again at two o’clock, and arrived in the evening at our camping-ground opposite the pleasant village of Sheik-el-Obeid. Our guns played the part of poulterer for us and varied our diet. In the morning Dupuis had shot a brace of sand-grouse, and in the khor[1] below our camp I had the luck to bag a teal. The temperature fell rapidly after sundown, and the night was very cold. The mosquitoes were numbed and did not stir, but the camels did, and I found them as effective in promoting a vigil. All night long they were browsing on the mimosa scrub; they relish the thorns, which are about two inches long. I heard them pull the branches, and then, when one was released, it recoiled into place with a swish. There was a continuous noise of this movement, and it vaguely reminded me of breaking water. The camels were hobbled, and stumbled from bush to bush. I constantly expected that one would stumble upon my bed. They loomed up, shadowy and grotesque, in the light of the bearers’ fires, and I had a kind of nightmare of them without sleep. On the 8th we were up before sunrise. Probably the camels, after supping all night, were tired. I say “probably”; for the camel is an aberrant type, and one can only guess its sensations. They were unwilling to barak[2] to receive their loads, and were grunting, snarling, and growling. When one of these beasts seems likely to become unmanageable, the camel-man “bridles” it by passing his index finger through the orifice between its nostrils. In breaking in young ones, a stout thorn, shaped as a peg, is used in the same position. We started at 7.30, and walked ahead of the baggage train with our guns. At nine o’clock, when the sun had gained power, we took to the saddle. The country through which we passed is cultivated during the rainy season; it is scored with ravines, hollowed out by the rush of water in the wet months, and is uncomfortable ground for travellers. During the day we shot five pigeons and a sand-grouse. Beside the river we saw and heard great numbers of demoiselle cranes, but found it impossible to get within gun-range of them. They have scouts on the watch both when they are in flight and when they settle, and as soon as the warning cry is given by the outpost the shooter’s chance is gone. We reached our camping-ground, near Bushagra, before five o’clock, and pitched one tent for our own use in case a dust storm should come upon us. I bathed on the brink of the river, but kept out of the pool for fear of crocodiles. As yet I had seen none, but I made their acquaintance quite closely enough later in the journey. The night was warm, and we slept in the open on the bank of the Nile.