[No Date] I have forgot to mention that before lunch that fat and pursy Kahli, Abdallah Ali Abu Sheikha of the Awlad Gadein (the man whose camp was accused of murdering several Hamar in 1931), came to see me and I sat under a tree with him.
[No Date] I spent part of the morning trying to sketch camels’ heads with poor success. I must have another shot at the full face pose which gives the maiden aunt effect.
March 1, 1932. Rode 6:17 to 9:06 when we reached Wadi al-Masirin. 169 minutes trotting, 275 minutes walking. Felt tired and slack and headachey. Read Hawawir files. After lunch tried drawing- a failure.
-On Trek in Kordofan: The Diaries of a British District Officer in Sudan, 1931-1933, C. A. E. Lea
Cyril Lea lived to be over ninety. I guess his twenty five years working outdoors in the Sudan Service proved to be good for his health, but trotting on a camel for 169 minutes a day must have been hell on his back. He didn’t seem to like Abdallah Ali of the Kawahla tribe and I didn’t like the Kahli drover Ahmad either, but he was in Bilal’s dabouka so we didn’t talk much. When we did, I saw he was the only one with teeth capped in silver and those that were not looked to be rotten. Durham University’s Sudan Archive has two boxes of Lea’s personal papers including 165 photographs. The file record doesn’t say if he left it any of his camel drawings.