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 fully three quarters of a mile in length. Ten miles further on you pass the Gare of El Kantara, through which runs the direct road from Cairo to Jerusalem. There are a few reed and mud huts adjoining the ferry, and it was here we saw the first of our future friends—a camel. We dragged along slowly and lazily in the burning sunshine, for the weather had now become very hot, and we had quite given up work in the middle of the day, our parades being early and late. The rest of the time was employed studying maps and books on the Sûdan. We had each been served out with four or five maps of Suakin and its surroundings, also of the route to Berber. These were all printed on white calico. We had also each a small English-Arabic Vocabulary, and a "Report on the Egyptian Provinces of the Sudan, Red Sea, and Equator" issued by the Intelligence Department. The Arabic Vocabulary was the cause of endless amusement, and shouts of laughter were to be heard over the catechisms that went on and the efforts at pronouncing some of the most unpronounceable words.

Just before sunset we arrived at Lake Timsah, and got a sight of Ismailyeh. We did not stop