第30章

feet3inchesfromsnouttoendoftail。

Thestomachcontainedaboutfivepounds’weightofpebbles，asthoughithadfeduponfleshrestinguponagravelbank，andhadswallowedthepebblesthathadadhered。Mixedwiththepebbleswasagreenish，slimymatterthatappearedwoolly。Inthemidstofthiswerethreeundeniablewitnessesthatconvictedthecrocodileofwilfulmurder。Anecklaceandtwoarmlets，suchasarewornbythenegrogirls，weretakenfromthestomach！Thegirlhadbeendigested。Thiswasanoldmalefactorthatwasagoodriddance。

Ihavefrequentlyseencrocodilesupwardsofeighteenfeetinlength，andtherecanbelittledoubtthattheysometimesexceedtwenty；butaverysmallcreatureofthisspeciesmaycarryawayamanwhileswimming。

Thecrocodiledoesnotattempttoswallowananimalatonce，buthavingcarriedittoafavouritefeeding-place，generallyinsomedeephole，ittearsitlimbfromlimbwithteethandclawsanddevoursitatleisure。

Thecampofthe”FortyThieves”hadbeenfinishedsometimesince：thegardenswereflourishing，andIerecteda”shadoof，”orEgyptiandoublebucketandleverforirrigation。Twomencouldliftandthrowout3，600

gallonsperhour。Imadethecalculationasnearlyaspossible：theironbucketscontainedslightlymorethanfourgallonseach；thus，twomenwiththedoubleshadoofliftedeightgallonseveryeightseconds(oroneliftineightseconds)：agallonpersecondgave3，600perhour。

Ineverallowedthe”FortyThieves”toworkatthegeneralhead-quarters，butkeptthemasmypersonalescort。WhenatTewfikeeyahIhadbeenparticularintheirdrill，andIhadendeavouredtoteachthemtoshootaccurately。TheEgyptiansbecamebettershotsthantheSoudanis，butImuchpreferredthelatter；bydegreesIdraftedoutalltheEgyptiansexceptingfour，andfilledtheirplaceswithwell-selectedblacks，mostlytakenfromthegrenadiercompanyoftheregiment。

Atthecommencementoftheexpeditionthissmallbodyofmenhadwellearnedthetitleofthe”FortyTHIEVES”bywhichtheywerealwaysknownamongtheEnglishparty，althoughpubliclyinthecamptheywereonlydesignatedas”TheForty。”

Ihadtakengreatpersonalcareofthislittlecorps，andtheresultwasmostsatisfactory。Thethieveshadbeengotridof。Ineverforgaveafaultuntilafterpunishmenthadbeenreceived；Ineverallowedthedoctortoattendthemwhenill，butinvariablyattendedtothemmyself。

Ihadendeavouredtoinstilafeelingofprideamongthem，andencouragedthemwithanideaoftheirsuperioritytotheotherregiments。Iactuallysucceededinestablishingacodeofhonourthroughoutthecorps，untilitwasconsideredadisgraceto”TheForty”

thatatheftshouldbecommitted。”Ishenotoneof’TheForty’?”wastheusualexclamationifanydoubtwasthrownonthecharacterofasoldier。Thefactofhisbelongingto”TheForty”wasasufficientcertificate。

Theregimentalarrangementsathead-quartershadbeensadlyneglected，asthemenwerenecessarilysomuchengagedinotherworkthattheyhadnotimefordrillexceptonFridays。The”FortyThieves”werewellofficered，havingtheadvantageofalieutenant-colonelandacaptain，togetherwithtwomostactiveandcourageouslieutenants，whohadlatelyreceivedtheirpromotionforgoodconduct：theseweremyfaithfulMonsoorAgha，andFerritchAgba。Theyoungsoldier，whohadbeencondemnedtobeshotfordesertionthepreviousyear，hadshownsuchdevotionandactivitythathewaspromisedthenextvacancyintherankofcorporal。Thenon-commissionedofficersweresoldierswhohadseenmuchservice，andthecorpswasinahighlyefficientstatewiththeexceptionoftheriflepractice。

WhileatTewfikeeyah，havingpaidmuchattentiontothisall-importantpoint，Ihadinstructedtheofficersandmenpersonally，andIhadestablishedprize-shootingtogiveanadditionalinteresttothework。

Bothofficersandmennowtookanimmensepleasureinriflepractice，butitappearedalmostimpossibletomakethemgoodshots。Outofforty-eightofficersandmen，Ihado

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