Page:Suakin, 1885.djvu/52



The mounted infantry were also out skirmishing; and the first intimation we had that real work had begun was passing a man lying in a dhoolie, and wounded in both arms.

Turning to the left off the field railway, we marched along parallel with the earthworks of the town and about a mile from them, till at length we were halted on a bare piece of sandy desert—just a sample of the country for miles and miles, except that there was no scrub—and told that we were to start marking out our camp, and that tents would shortly be sent out to us. We accordingly piled arms and let the men take off their kits, as it was uncommonly hot.

We had provided each of our men with a piece of bread and a quarter of a pound of cheese; so this, with a suck from a water-bottle, made an excellent breakfast. We had to wait a long while before our tents made their appearance, and it was ten o'clock before the first string of camels arrived with a part of them. We were all soon at work, though, and in a couple of hours we had transformed our bare patch of sand into a smart camp, all alive with the hum of many voices and the bustle of men getting everything ship-shape.

Our tents were certainly excellent, and were