Page:Suakin, 1885.djvu/48

 of two or three a day, so that there might always be several ready. Whenever it has been practicable we have always brought in our dead and buried them here; the officers being for the most part buried in coffins, the men in their blankets. There are one or two of the common mimosa bushes among the graves, otherwise there is no vegetation of any sort, and nothing but the dry, hot sand of the desert

We were all hoping we should be disembarked that afternoon; but orders were sent off to say that this was to be postponed till the following morning at daybreak. Some of us, therefore, determined to try and get a boat and go ashore, but it was with difficulty we did so, as boats are scarce at Suakin. It does not seem to have occurred to the native mind that a large fortune might be made plying this trade. I should be very sorry, however, to trust myself in one of their very narrow canoes, which are of the type one used to read of as a boy in Fenimore Cooper's novels—mere long logs of wood hollowed out and sharpened bow and stem. The dexterity with which they handle these frail craft is marvellous, and they go along at a great rate, with the water very often within an inch of coming over the side.