"The pay would be equal to that of regular troops.
"If I can form a regiment of 600 irregulars I shall be independent of troops from Khartoum.
"March 26. —Quonga and many other sheiks arrived, and were quite delighted with the wheel of life.
"The natives are selling sweet potatoes and tobacco for beads, but flour is brought in very small quantities.
"March 27. —Provisions are coming in so slowly that we shall be short of food. Upon the arrival of Quonga and his sheiks, I make a hot complaint; he coldly told me that it would be better if the soldiers were to forage for themselves.
"I explained to him the rigid discipline that I enforced, and that, should I once permit thieving, the troops' character would be entirely ruined, and they would pillage throughout the route.
"He replied that this neighbourhood was in a state of anarchy; that many of the inhabitants were hostile to Kabba Rega, and they would not obey his orders.
"I told him that my troops were lambs if well fed, but they were like lions if hungry, and to prove their number I would summon them before him.
"The bugle sounded the 'taboor,' and upwards of 100 men immediately fell in with bayonets fixed, to the no small dismay of Quonga and his sheiks, who began to look very uneasy at the scarlet uniforms. By a coup de theatre, I marched the men, with bugles and drums playing, round the numerous huts, so that they reappeared twice before the tent, and thus doubled their real number.
"At the halt and dismissal, they shouted their usual wild cry in
Turkish, in honour of their commander.