Page:Suakin, 1885.djvu/44

 of these little chaps are really nice-looking, with cheery faces and bright sparkling eyes. Their cheeks are almost always ornamented with three long slashes on each side, done with some sharp instrument when they are very young. I saw one or two little girls of twelve or fourteen years of age who were far prettier than I ever thought it was possible for blacks to be. They lose these good looks, though, almost entirely as they grow older.

The population of the place varies a good deal; but, counting Italians, Greeks, and Egyptian soldiery, there must be at the time I am writing little short of eight thousand people here.

One of the chief points of interest to us in Suakin was Osman Digna's house; not that there was anything particular about the house, either inside or out. It stood close to the water's edge up a small creek on the south side of the town. A stick cut from Osman Digna's garden was considered a great trophy.

Most people now know Osman Digna's history, but for those who do not it may be as well to give a short sketch of his antecedents. This person, then, was born at Kouen, and is the son of French parents, his family name being Vinet He was called after his father, George,