and as a starting-point for the railway. Several piers and landing-stages have been, erected here by the Royal Engineers, and vessels of 4000 tons are able to moor alongside these and discharge their cargoes. On the second island stands the old town of Suakin, and connected with the mainland by a causeway built by General Gordon some years ago. The town proper, or old town, consists of a number of low, flat-topped houses of the ordinary Eastern type, built right up to the water's edge. The thoroughfares or streets are of deep sand, there being no necessity for roads, as wheel traffic is unknown here. On the mainland, and adjoining the causeway just referred to, is a suburb which has outgrown the town both in population and importance. Here there are several mosques and buildings of some pretensions, as well as a large open barrack occupied by a battalion of Egyptian troops. Beyond this again comes the native town, composed of a great number of huts made of a sort of coarse grass matting spread over a framework of stout sticks in several thicknesses. Outside all are the earthworks and defences, running completely round and enclosing the whole place; they have been all erected since 1881, as before this date the
