THE AUTHOR'S METHOD OF HAULING BOATS THROUGH THE BAB-EL-KEBIR.
AA. HAWSER: BB. HAULING LINE; C. GIBGUY; J. AND I. MEN HAULING;
H. FIXED POINT; G. PURCHASE FOR SETTING TAUT.
AFTER A DRAWING MADE ON THE SPOT BY THE AUTHOR
When the whale-boats came along, their passage was so arranged that a regiment, or part of a regiment, was kept together; the distribution being maintained all up the river, so that a homogeneous body could be landed at any moment for attack or defence if necessary.
So furious was the torrent, that whoso fell into it seldom rose again, unless he were one of the expert Dongola divers. The men coming up in the boats, who had done and suffered much before reaching Wady Halfa, had repaired their trousers with biscuit tins. I overheard the following dialogue between one of these tin-bottomed weary heroes and a comrade on the bank:
"Hullo, Bill, 'ow are you getting on?"
"Me? I've been pulling on this here ruddy river for about two years. 'Ow far is it to Gemai?"
"About fifteen miles, mate."
"O my Gawd! Is there an 'orspital there?"
Late in October, the voyageurs arrived, a fine body of men, 380 strong.
Being acquainted with rapids and understanding their navigation, the voyageurs were invaluable in bringing the boats through the long and difficult reaches of the Nile up to Wady Halfa, and from Wady Halfa up to Korti. The task could never have been accomplished in the time, and the losses of boats would have been heavier, had it not been for the voyageurs.