The Wild Tribes of the Soudan — F. L. James

On Dec. 1, 1881, we left Cairo for Suez, en route for the Egyptian Soudan, with the intention of exploring the Basé country, a small tract lying between Taka (an Egyptian province, of which Cassala is the principal town) and Abyssinia. We were going chiefly for sport; and, the Basé country being almost if not entirely unknown to Europeans, we hoped to be successful, especially as it had not previously been shot over, and, moreover, lies in a part of Africa inhabited by many different kinds of game. We knew that in all probability there would be considerable difficulties to encounter in exploring the country; as only a small part of it, and that a part where there is little or no game, belongs to Egypt, and consequently no help could be expected, but rather hindrance, from the Egyptian officials in endeavouring to carry out our programme. They naturally dislike the possibility of sportsmen running the risk of getting into trouble with tribes bordering on their frontier. The Basé are the bêtes noires, moreover, of all that part of the Soudan, and have the character of being a very treacherous and unfriendly people; so that it was not only on the part of the Egyptian officials that we expected to have obstacles thrown in our way, but we felt sure that we should have considerable difficulty in getting camel-drivers and servants to undertake the journey.

On our arrival in Cairo, we heard that we should probably be delayed for some three or four weeks before we could find a steamer to take us to Souakim (the port on the Red Sea from which we wished to make our start into the interior), owing to the existing quarantine regulations. In consequence of the prevalence of cholera in India and at Aden, all steamers going from an Arabian to an African port were subjected to quarantine on their arrival.