THE RT HON . CHURCH ILL,

’\I P.

A REST BY THE \VAYS IDE

W ITH RIFLE 8639 CAMERABY CAPTAIN F . A . D ICKINSON

W ITH AN INTRODUCTION—5

AND NUMEROUS ILLUSTRAT IONS FROMPHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN BYTHE AUTHOR

“ A tl

— h - n—Q

V J

NEW YORK JOHN LANE COMPANY MCMX

INTRODUCTION

KNOW by experience that Capta inD ickinson in person is an ideal companionand guide through the countries which he

describes ; and I feel sure that those who areless fortunate than myself will find his book anexcellent substitute for his presence. They wil lreal ize from his manner of writ ing his constantcheerfulness , his stores of resource for everydifficulty and emergency, and his full knowledgeand understanding of every problem which canconfront the traveller or the sportsman . E lephantsare to him l ike partridges

,and h ippopotami l ike

hares ; and he has an eye which can identifythe rarest of the antelopes by the twinkle of itsta i l behind a thorn - th icket at a hundred yards .Allhis advice on the deta i ls of big-game shootingis based on long experience interpreted by soundinst inct and acute intell igence ; and the onlydrawback to his teaching is that it wil l not allowhis disciples the satisfaction of improving on it.

252448

Lake Victoria to Khartoum

Under a l iterary style which is al l his own,

Captain D ickinson has a message to convey. I tis the interest and spiri t of a genuine sportsman ,who knows how to find the game

,how to kill , and

much rarer qual i ty— how to spare.H e is fortunate in the countries in which his

service has lain . These great wild lands offerto the young officer not only opportunities ofsport or adventure , but a contact with responsibilities and real i t ies which is a special educationin itself. Few return to the prosa ic routine ofpeace - time soldiering in England without newqual i t ies of knowledge and character

,to com

pensate them for the regrets with which theylook back

,and often

,alas

,for the heal th they

leave behind them . Reading these pages bringsvividly back to me mellow and charming recollections of Br it ish East Africa and Uganda, twoyears ago— the st ir in camp before daybreak ,breakfast under the stars

,the long tramp through

the dripping elephant grass while the sun rosehigher and higher and the thermometer boundedup in company

,the oases of rest in the bandas

with food and drink assuming total ly new values ,the cool of the evening , and the long sittings

vi

Introduction

round the camp fire and the thrill of the steal thyprowl ing through reed and thicket in the rh inoceros and elephant country

,when at each

moment the next step might disclose the hide ofsome unconscious but formidable enemy .

These paths are rapidly growing less sol itary .

The steamers mult iply,the ra i lways extend .

Important footsteps brush back the jungle . Thehunter who from some secret spot watches theslow procession of the elephants

,or surprises

the rhinoceros grazing placidly,i s surveying a

threatened if not a vanishing civi l isation. Weapproach the period of more game - laws and lessgame . The achievements which this book recordswill become increasingly rare as the years passby

,and Capta in D ickinson’s jaunty chronicle wil l

one day be studied by a generation of sportsmenwho will view the “ good old times ” with enviousand ultimately unbel ieving eyes .

W INSTON S . CHURCHILL

AUTHOR’

S PREFACE

MUST say I bel ieve in being as up todate as possible

,so that whenever I go

to a new country, usual ly a semi- savageone (which has happened pretty often , s ince

I have been extraordinarily lucky ever since Ijoined the Service), I make a point of buying,borrowing, or steal ing the very latest book aboutthat country, and of gett ing myself well up inits communicat ions and geography, and in thepresent - day customs , habits , and the hundredand one detai ls connected with its inhabitants .As others may be of l ike mind , I am tryinganother wild wield of the pen in order that myshoot ing (chiefly) experiences may not be lockedup in my own bra i n and therefore wasted , whensomebody in th i s era of big-game shooting

,ex

ploration , and travel might possibly benefit fromthei r being put on paper.The old - t ime history you can well afford to let

sl ide for the time being, as that makes al l themore interest ing reading later, when you findyourself leading a more or less excit ing existence ,very l ikely in one of the places or districts wherethat history has been made . Then take up your

4 2 lx

Lake Victoria to Khartoumhistory book and learn ; the result wil l be thatthe dangers and difficul ties of the old days wil lbe brought before you in al l their intensity.

Moreover, your studies wil l be not a l ittleass isted by the efforts of the local savage

,who,

on finding that the white man does know something about him , begins to expand and to becomequite confidential , ti l l in the end you are able,with the aid of a few hints and a l ittle judiciouspumping

,to extract endless stories , anecdotes ,

and folk - lore out of him . All these l ittle thingsare bound to do good in the long run , as theytend to improve the relat ions between the nat iveand the white man . I f you can show a knowledge of local geography and mention the namesof some of our brave explorers who were thepioneers in these out- of- the -way corners of theglobe

,and who bore the burden and heat of

some long- ago day to help make and then toconsol idate the British Empire, the nat ives areimmensely pleased , and proceed from story tostory about them .

On the White N ile in Uganda they know al labout Emin Pasha

,Sel im Bey, and the big

Engl ishman with his wife— Sir Samuel Bakeras well as lots of others

,and wil l jaw away til l

al l ’s blue i f al lowed .

These l ittle detai ls are important too fromanother point of V iew, as they instil the wisdomof the wh i te man into the minds of the savages

Author’s Prefaceand impress them with his cleverness and generalknowledge ; with the result that they are not soapt to try and “ do him in the eye

,

” or practisetheir l ittle petty deceptions and subterfuges .Moreover, when they find out that the Brit ishofficer is there l iving amongst them not merely asa judicial officer to settle their amusing matrimonialaffai rs or cases of inter- tribal cattle- l ifting or whatnot, but as a human being who is always readyfor a day ’s sport or who appreciates a good joke ,they are much more amenable and easi ly led .

This also makes for a happy and peaceful timefor the said official whose business i t is to takecharge of the district .Whilst in command of the escort to the R ightHon . Winston Churchi ll , M.P. ,

the then UnderSecretary of State for the Colonies , from LakeV ictoria Nyanza to Gondokoro

,which is a

j ourney from the bottom , pract ical ly, to the topof Uganda, i t struck me that i t would be as wellto put some of our experiences on paper for futurereference , and, when that trek was rounded offby a visi t to Khartoum on Mr. Churchil l ’s kindinvitation as his guest

,and a splendid shoot the

whole of the 1500 odd miles back , I decided towrite this book.

On my landing at Gondokoro from a del ightfully happy Christmas week atKhartoum , and anexcellent shoot on my way up the N ile, successful ch iefly owing to the many great kindnesses

X1

Lake Victoria to KhartoumI received from various officials of the Sudan

,I

related the story of my adventures and experi

ences , and my friends cried , “What a lucky devilyou are ! ”I know I am , but , good luck or il l luck, one

does not secure a good bag, including a coupleof l ions

,without much hard work and stiff

marching.

The best turn my luck ever did me was when ,while guarding , or helping to guard , Boer prisonersin Ceylon

,I received an unexpected telegram from

England ordering me on a Mullah hunt. Froma sporting point of V iew this su ited me top hole ” ;and for other reasons also ! I t may sound strange ,but a subal tern in a British infantry regimentsometimes wonders where his next “ fiver isgoing to drop from ! I f i t doesn ’t arrive somehow , the fun begins !Since that day the “ fairy goddess has favoured

me with her smiles . Long may she continue todo so ! I l ift my hands in suppl icat ion !I hope the shooting notes and experiences , as

wel l as the description of the different varietiesof big game that are to be met with in EastAfrica, which Ihave endeavoured to discuss inB ig Game Sfiootz'ng on t/ze E gs or , may haveproved beneficial or ‘at least helpful to somesportsman who is on the “ hard -work ” tack , andwants to make a col lection of typical heads ofAfrican big game . Anyhow, I ’m plunging into

xii

Author’s Prefacethe vortex again . The other book first saw thel ight of day whilst I was on this trek withChurchil l , and as I had no letters for close onthree months

,i t was rather exciting to know

what was happening to the poor dear thing !However

,

“ always be merry and bright ” is ahousehold phrase that is appl icable to mostoccasions and certa inly meets this one .

I n the present work I am endeavouring toportray the animals that the average sportsmanmay meet on trek in Uganda and the WhiteN ile district

,giving their habits and habitat as

nearly as is possible with photographs ; much inthe same way as I deal t with those of East Africai n my former book.

F . A. D.

xi i i

CONTENTSPAGE

MR. WINSTON CHURCH ILL’S INTRODUCT IONAUTHOR’S PREFACEINTRODUCTORY CHAPTERL IFE AND SCENERY IN UGANDATHE NILEMR . CHURCH ILL’S JOURNEY THROUGH UGANDA

K HARTOUM

UGANDA COB

ELEPHANTK HARTOUM AND OMDURMAN . CHR ISTMAS, 1 90 7

L IONROAN ANTELOPEWH ITE - EARED COBTHE B AHR-EL-ZERAR

T IANGBUSHBUCKB ACK TO UGANDAHIPPOPOTAMUSTOP I

OR IB I

Lake Victoria to KhartoumBOUND FOR K HARTOUM ONCE MOREFURTHER EXPER IENCES WITH ELEPHANTWH ITE RH INOCEROSVVATERBUCK

GAME REGULATIONS ! UGANDAGAME REGULAT IONS ! SUDANINDEx

xvi

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Lake Victoria to KhartoumTof acepage

A WHEEL ON THE N ILE BANK 62

LAZ I NESS I S I N THE A I R ” 62

THE PYRAM IDS 64

THE SpHINx 64

OUR PARTY “ ON TREK 66

Lieut. -Col. W i lson, and H. G . Captain D ick inson. The Rt. Hon. WinstonChurchi l l , M .P . Lieut. Fishbourne , R.E . Dr. Thompson, 4thK .A .R.

Mr. Ormsby . Mr . Marsh. Dr . Goldie .

BURN ING WEEDS I N A BANANA PLANTAT I ONLAND I NG FOR THE N IGHTCH IEF DORA’S FR I ENDLY SECT ION OF THE BUKED ITHE N I LE AT FAJAOCAMP I N THE L I ME -GROVE AT MAS I ND IREAL ST I FF WALK I NGOUR SHOOT I NG CAM P ON THE N ILEFR I NG I NG A MARSHY KHOROUR CAMP ON THE FAR S I DE OF THE ASSUA R IVERA GROU P OF BAR I TR I BESMEN AT GONDOKOROTHE K IT R IVER CROSS I NGA CORNER OF THE PALACE GARDEN SUGANDA COBTHE STR I CKEN RUFF IANTHE PALACE

,KHARTOUM

A STREET I N KHARTOUMGO ING TO BEDTHE WHALE - HEADED STORK— BALASN I CEPS REX

THE KHAL IFA’S SQUARE , OMDURMANTHE MADHI ’S TOM BA NAT IVE WATER -WHEELL I ONA BULL ROANA Cow ROANWH ITE - EARED COBT IANGSUDD BANKS ON THE BAHR -EL -ZERAF

xvi i i

Illustrations

AT THE TOP OF THE JEBEL ZERAFBUSHBUCKTwo BUSH BUCK HEADS AND A WHOLE RH I NO HORNTHE WATER LAY KNEE DEEP UPON THE LEVEL PLA I NA FREQUENT MURMUR OF WATERSWATERBUCKONE OF THOSE BOTTOMLE S S MORASSES

V ISTAS O F EVERLAST I NG S ILENC EI N THE FORE STELEPHANT COUNTRYDUF ILEA BABY H I PPO ON LAKE ALBERTTHE H IPPO HARD AND FAST To THE BANKOR I B I“ CAM P WAS P ITCHED WITHOUT DELAYOUR SWAM P TO ILETSMY DEAR DOGSA WOODED RANGE OF ROCKY H ILL STHE PATH BECAME UNEVEN

ELEPHANT COUNTRY ON THE BANKS OF THE N ILEA GOOD BULL ELEPHANTTHE PLEAS I NG RES ULTS OF A GRAND DAY’S SPORTELEPHANT COUNTRY . IN THE BUDONGA FORESTTHE CUTT I NG U P

V ICTORIA TO KHARTOUM

LA KE V I CT OR IA

T O KHA RT OUM

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER

N these pages , in order to avoid the confusing use of the names of the differentdistricts into which the “ Uganda Protectorate ” i s d ivided, I am go ing to apply

the name Uganda to the Whole country fromLake V ictoria Nyanza, in the south , to Gondokoro

,the northernmost point joining up with

the Sudan . This wil l save the repetition of thenames of the various provinces , and conse

quently the continual disturbing glances at amap ; i t wil l also enable the reader readily todist inguish between Uganda and the Sudanthe two countries with which I am deal ing inthese travels.As regards the pecul iar habitat of any particular species Of game, I shal l of course makea distinction where necessary, mentioning thevarious districts the animal s are to be found in .

However,in order to give the stranger a very

Lake Victoria to Khartoumrough idea of the Uganda Protectorate

,I may

state that the kingdom of Uganda proper extends from the R ipon Fal ls in the east nearlyto Lake Albert in the west . Between this tractof country and the V i ctoria Nile l ies Unyoro,

which stretches from Lake Albert on the west toMruli and Lake K ioga on the east . Usoga wehardly touch , but this country l ies east of theRipon Fal ls and extends towards Mount E lgon .

Travell ing northwards we come to the N ileProvince

,lying on the right or east bank of

the N ile,from Lake Albert as far as Gondokoro ,

peopled by the Alur, Madi , and Bari tribes , inthe order mentioned

,from south to north . Fur

ther east of these is the Achol i country,which

we don ’t touch at all .I n my last book— 8 12g Game Sfiootz

'

ng on Me

E quator — I deal t with porters and their ways,

camp equipage,and such - l ike things . I will not

repeat what I said there,nor will I say anything

about C lothes or the battery which it is advisableto take out, except that it is h ighly important toprovide oneself with a good double - barrelled'

500 or'

57 7 cordite express rifle , as this is thecountrypar excellence for elephants.By the way

,nowthat the subject has cropped up,

so many people have asked me at what spot theyshould aim when shooting at an elephant that it isworth while making a fewremarks on this important point .

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Lake Victoria to Khartoumof the heart being touched. This animal— Shotin the neck— however, is not dead , and the coupde gniee has to be administered .

Now , I have seen an elephant shot in the heartas well as one floored with the “ heart shot , andthe behaviour of each was as described above, asis to be expected of al l good wild beasts . (Theformer was a screaming tenor ! ) I have askedseveral medical men about th is

,and the consen

sus of their opinion is that the so- cal led “ heartshot ” i s in real ity the neck shot in other animals ,since the elephant has practical ly no neck to speakof and that this Shot catches the nerves in theneck and paralyses him .

To continue . I f the elephant is not quitebroadside on but rather turned towards you , don’tShoot

,wa i t , because your bullet may have to

plough its way through inches of sol id bonebefore reaching the bra in . I f he is facing sl ightlyaway from you it is possible to shoot— up theear-hole— but advisable to wait. I f he is facingyou end- ou

,but stil l unsuspicious

,don ’t shoot ;

wa i t again . Remember i t is far better to make a“ dead snip of an animal that al l the world isanxious to Shoot , i f not so much for the sport anddanger attached thereto as for the monetaryvalue of his tusks, by wa i ting two or three hourseven , than to muddle the business by letting himget off wounded

,very l ikely never to be met

with again .

Introductory ChapterI f an elephant is facing you

,the reason Why i t

is advisable to wait is because the only vulnerable point is SO very tiny, and you are quite l ikelyto be a shade shaky whilst being “ stared in theface ” by the largest and most dangerous animal inthe world . Under such circumstances the chancesof a successful shot are not good . The place toshoot him when in such a position

,however, i s a

smal l depression at the junction of the trunkwith the forehead

,midway between

,and sl ightly

below, the eyes .I f you are being charged this is the point to

a im at , as in no other place can you kill h imbefore he is upon you . I f you hit h im in theheart, for instance , he sti l l continues his madcareer, and woe betide you i f he catches you !The only th ing to do is to give him both barrelsat once, a iming for that spot in h is forehead, andgit ” as hard as you can leg it, down wind fromhim i f the grass is thin enough to perm it of yourdoing so, always hoping for the best . Even ifyour a im be not quite accurate you wil l give hima thundering headache and probably stop him ;

but next morning,don’t forget

,that head wil l

st i l l be on him,and he wil l be very l iverish into

the bargain . SO watch it !I t is very annoying when a bull elephant with

smal l tusks or a cow charges you , as you mayhave to shoot in self- defence

,and they both count

on your l icence amongst the two al lowed to be

Lake Victoria to Khartoumkilled ; moreover , the tusks of the cow are confiscated even if you are not fined for slaughteringher.NO i t is not advisable to play any pranks with

these dangerous brutes .An unsporting shot is in the knee . I f youhit the elephant here he cannot move

,as his next

step would bring him down,and he knows th is ,

so he has to stand stil l t il l he is brutal ly done todeath . As a matter of fact , th is is a very difficult shot, as his knee is so low and the grass isusual ly SO high that i t is often quite impossibleto make outwhere the knee is . This shot isnotin vogue nowadays i t has not been practisedsince the elephant was exterminated from SouthAfrica in the old days .One more piece of advice before we leave the

subject . Don ’t ever go near a stricken elephant,even though he may be lying on the ground andto al l appearances dead . Walk round behindhim and put a bullet into the back of his Skull ,raking in towards the bra in . Many a man hascome to a nasty

,messy end by walking up to

a dangerous animal supposing it to have shuffled off th is mortal coil

,when in real ity the

said animal was only stunned by the smashingblow of the bullet

,or else foxing.

I n the case of al l other animals,a im close

behind the shoulder and you get your V ictim inthe heart or lungs . You always know when

8

Introductory Chapterthe bullet has penetrated these latter by the bloodtracks being frothy. The neck shot alwaysholds good , however , and I invariably take thisin preference to any other i f I am on my day andshooting straight. But in some animals the neckis necessarily a smal l target

,and so a gazelle or

oribi Should be taken beh ind the shoulder.A hippo one must shoot in the eye or ear , as

these are about al l one sees of him above waterlevel .A charging rhino carries his head SO low in

the act of galloping that one can shoot over itinto the neck in front of the shoulder.A Charging l ion you must hit where you can ,and be jol ly quick about it

,a iming usually at the

head , I suppose .About the safest place for a crocodile is in the

under part of the neck,as if hi t anywhere else he

invariably manages to scramble down the bankinto the river and is lost .I n conclusion

,I would say that it has been my

a im to Showhow each species is l ikely to behaveunder ordinary circumstances . I n order to attainth is Object I have been careful to record faithfullymy actual experiences

,and

,unless Otherwise

stated in the text,have selected cases in which

the game animals acted in what I consider atypical manner.

I I

L IFE AND SCENERY IN UGANDA

HE kingdom of Uganda,together with

the provinces of Usoga and Unyoro ,

const itute one happy land of perpetualgreenery.

O ’er h il l and dale,swamp and pla in ; o ’er the

belts of elephant grass intermingl ing with the tal land stately forest trees

,in appearance someth ing

l ike an Engl ish elm , whose white trunks rise highabove the undergrowth ; o ’er the whole verdantlandscape

,trembles and wavers

,year in year

out, a pearly shimmering haze of heat -waves . Asleepy

,steamy silence

, too,preva i ls . The only

constant sound that greets the ear is the monotonous whirr of the tree- frog as he shakes h iswings against their horny coverings

,whilst tucked

away against the rugged bark Of a tree trunk.

The occasional sounds are now the harshgabble of a flock of guinea - fowl

,as the birds rise

and fly out of one ’s way,making bel ieve that they

are dreadfully frightened at one ’s intrusion ; nowthe rush in the jungle beside one ’s road of astartled herd of water- buck on the way back fromthe morn ing drink ; now the crash ing of a herdof elephants somewhere in the depths Of the

10

Life and Scenery in Ugandaforest smashing the trees to matchwood whileselectIng their meal of twigs and leaves . Werethe sol itude notthus disturbed , i t would be difficul t for a person to bel ieve that he is not the onlyl iving thing in the countrys ide.Very different is the aspect of the countrynorth of N imule on the road to Gondokoro ; butof this more anon sufficient to the dayThe journey from East Africa across Lake

V ictoria to Entebbe,the capital and seat of

Government Of the Uganda Protectorate,i s per

formed in a steamer,a Spick - and - Span creat ion of

the Uganda Rai lway,admirably furn ished with

every modern comfort , and so more l ike a glorified yacht gl iding over an azure sea to the I slesof the H esperides than a prosa ic ferry - boat.To those on the steamer, Entebbe shows itselfas a l ittle pier with sheds and customs -housesdotted about at the water ’s edge

,aga inst a back

ground Of large,green

,shady trees

,festooned

with bri l l iant red - V iolet strands of bougainvil lea .

O ld Government H ouse just peeps outfromamongst the fol iage

,and beyond everything rises

the hil l whereon New Government House isbeing buil t

,with the Union J ack waving over

head .

A Short walk up the white road hedged withplumbago and hydrangea conducts us from thepier to the l ittle stone houses

,each in its pretty

garden , picturesquely dotted on the S lopes of aI I

Lake Victoria to Khartoumlarge green amphitheatre Of grass which stretchesto the reeds bordering the lake

,whence the view

extends to the Sesse I slands,

“ summer isles of

Eden , set in dark purple spheres of sea, ” as theyare so aptly described by S ir Harry johnston , aformer Governor.The houses above mentioned are the residences

Of the Government Officials . There are someexcellent tennis courts

,and a smal l club house

well placed in a central position near by . Onbeyond

,at the further l ip Of th is green saucer, are

the Fort and the Roman Cathol ic Chapel .A beautiful scene, yet ful l of ravening wolves

within !That fell d isease , the “ sleeping sickness, and

its harbinger, the dreaded tsetse fly— now,fortu

mately, almost total ly exterm inated at Entebbe ,owing to the C learing of the forest land round theShore of the lake— have decimated the populat ion here . Where are the l ittle fa iry fishing boatsthat ought to dotthe blue waters of this inlandsea , and thus complete its picture ! Fish thereare in plenty , but the fishermen have long sincedied or disappeared owing to this deadly malady .

A large island which the steamer passes on thestarboard bow in the course of the voyage fromPort Florence to Entebbe used to boast a censusof some twenty thousand people , Whereas nowi ts population numbers barely two hundred !Beh ind the orderly rows of houses , pictu r

1 2

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Lake Victoria to Khartouma narrow belt , bordered on each side by rustl ingbanana shambas , each plantation conceal ing itsquota of nat ive huts .The broad road winds about, now rising now

fall ing sl ightly,in and out between the hil ls and

swamps , and the inhabitants in their n ice cleanC lothes come running out at the song of thecool ies to try and find out , in their inquis it ive way ,who it may be. For a wonder , this road doesnot go in a straight bee - l ine, because it has beensurveyed by Brit ish engineers for motor traffic inthe future. The relay of cool ies that meets usten miles or so from Entebbe pushes us alongthrough the same pretty scenery til l Kampala

’scathedral rises conspicuously into V iew, and then ,topping the last ridge

,the town l ies spread out

before us .L ike the city of Rome, Kampala i s buil t on

seven h ills,which have names far too long and

unpronounceable for me to attempt to spel l correctly. I n the Old days these seven hills wereusually at war with one another, but now al l isforgotten and forgiven , and every one is friendlyand at peace .Kampala is resplendent in greenery

,and , owing

to the fact that the trees and grass are picked outwith broad red roads

,presents a striking spectacle .

Mengo, the king’s h il l,is more or less in the

centre,and the monarch ’s comfortable house and

buildings are surrounded by a high wattled caneI 4

Life and Scenery in Ugandafence of the description called kiss ikati

,

” whichis very effective. Most of the houses of anypretensions in the country are ornamented with apal ing of this cane-work , which helps to makethem look more wel l cared for and tidy than anyS im ilar native abodes in other Eastern cl imes .Looking out from Mengo H i l l

,the high - peaked

cathedral of the on Namirembe , and thelong red roofs of the Roman Cathol ic M iss ion onRubaga, catch one

’s eye to the north,whilst to

the right and underneath the former is the old

Fort on Lugard’

s H i l l , where he first pitched hiscamp when the adherents of the Church of England were atvariance with the Roman Cathol ics .The cathedral just mentioned is a most im

pressive edifice . Some two hundred feet longand one hundred wide

,i ts wal ls are built of burnt

brick, with lofty columns of the same materialsupporting the grass - thatched roof

,which , running

up into three high peaks,forms an imposing land

mark for the country far and wide. There is abroad verandah al l round

,the roof of which and

Of the inside of the cathedral i s beau tifully andvery neatly l ined with n ice clean white canes

,each

cane bound to i ts fel low in tasteful patterns of

string-work . These canes lend a particularlystriking finish to the otherwise somewhat gloomyInterIor.

Close by the cathedral i s the excel lent nativehospital, also managed by the with its

15

Lake Victoria to Khartoumlong clean wards and rows Of spotless beds— mostof them happily untenanted when I was thereand its pretty V iew over forest and plain to thewest .Looking back aga in to the left of the king’s

enclosure,the civi l and mil itary hil l is seen to

rise above the I ndian Bazaar , streaked with redclay roads which Show up strongly against theverdure

,in which houses are dotted haphazard .

Beyond,in the far distance

,through a l ittle gap

in the wooded hills , one can just catch a gl impseof the lake somewhere near where Kampala’sport

,Munyonyo

,ought to be, about s ix miles

away. Round again due south comes the Mil lH i l l M ission

,on the occas ion of our V is i t thickly

crowded with l i ttle native boys and girls allclothed in gleaming white “ kanzus

,S inging

“ H ere we go round the mulberry bush .

” Akanzu ” is the universal dress for al l ages andclasses

,and is a repl ica of the Old - fashioned night

Shirt !The king, or “ kibaka

,as is his local t itle

,i s

assisted till he attains his majority by threeregents, one of whom , S ir Apolo Kagwa, theKatikiro or Prime M inister, paid a vis i tto ou r

native shores at K ing Edward ’s coronation . Allminor matters of State are left by H is Excellencythe Governor to be settled by the regents andtheir Parl iament. The result of this is a verymethodical and complete system Of native ad

I 6

Life and Scenery in Ugandaministration . Native l i tigants — as numerous hereas in other parts of the globe— flock to the justiceor injustice meted out to them at the hands of

their own conf rér es .

I think that has about done with Kampala andits hil ls— atleast , I can’t remember any more, andit ’s almost time I began a description of otherstations and scenes , as well as the aspect of thecountry as seen by any traveller on any road.

Uganda is all bright green ! I ’ve sa id as muchbefore, but it is necessary to emphasize th is fact .We now leave behind the forest land and comeinto the open country.

This is a hil ly land and between each hil l is aswamp

,which of necessity impedes one ’s progress ,

and when that is combined with the fact thatgreat thick elephant grass

,anything from fifteen

to twenty feet high , grows luxuriantly on eachand every hill

,you have a practical ly impassable

country .

And it is so to al l intents and purposes,except

for the Uganda roads . I qual ify them with thatadject ive deservedly, as there are none others l ikethem on the face of the globe. They are all thesame ! dead straight , no matter what comes inthe way . They are l ike the Ark, an old- establ ishedconcern

,and never dream of getting out of the

way of the extreme t ip of a hill , but go slap overit in the most exasperating fash ion and then , asa rule, down the other s ide to the uttermost

0 I 7

Lake Victoria to Khartoumdepths of the val ley between that hil l and thenext . The bore of i t is , there always is a next !I n fact

,the local method of judging distance here

is not so much by hours ’marching, as by so many“ mettulahs (hills) ; and in the north , nearGondokoro

,by so many rivers

,

“ river ” being aeuphonious name for the stagnant marshes whichalone vary the monotony of the elephant grass .These same marshes are crossed by long narrow

causeways,buil t upon piles driven into the ground

so as to form two rows ! logs , reeds , grass , andearth are thrown on the top of and in betweenthese

,leaving a few l ittle culverts underneath the

road to enable the water to drain off from thestream above . A well - kept causeway on a muchused main road wil l have a low kiss ikati fencesome two feet high on each S ide

,which helps to

improve its appearance .

At the end of the recognized march,when one

reaches Camp, and also hal f-way along the route ,are to be found a few “ bandas

,

”or grass huts ,

built ready to shelter the belated traveller. Thereis usually a big one for the Bwana ”

(master) ,one for the cook, and another two or three forboys or What - nots . This constitutes the scene ofone ’s evening rest . I f these huts are frequentlyburnt down and rebuilt on a new site

,they are a

source of great comfort, as they afford mostwelcome shade from the afternoon sun

,and are

cool and roomy to l ive in . I f not destroyedx8

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Life and Scenery in Ugandaperiodical ly

,the creeping things innumerable

which take up their abode in them are a continualplague and worry.

At intervals also — and this appl ies rather moreto the tiny by - paths through the jungle— onebursts out Of a tangle of elephant grass or bushupon a neat. C learing

,in which will be seen

,facing

a smal l patch of cultivation,a round beehive

shaped butof grass , with a low door, in front ofwhich two or three tiny brats are busi ly engagedin bullying the goats and chickens . You canalways bet on three things there besides the dirtychild— bananas , sweet potatoes , and bark - clothtrees . Each family is absolutely self- contained

,

so to speak ; each grows on i ts own patch of

ground all the necessaries of l ife . Bananas whenroasted and ground up make flour (of aand then , besides , you can boil ’em

,or fry ’em

, or

do anything you l ike with’em ; whilst you may

make “ tembo or nat ive beer outof the n iceyellow sweet ones that you and I eat. So thesesimple folk can lead a quiet l ife

,or go “ on the

bust as they feel disposed !The sweet potato very Often grows underneath

the bananas, and is, together with these latter ,the common food for porters in this part Of theworld . The sweet potato is an excellent thingfor keeping land clear of weeds. Some peoplegrow a l i ttl e I ndian corn as well , but it is not soOften seen .

I 9

Lake Victoria to KhartoumThen round the whole Show comes the bark

cloth tree,outOf which the natives make the

long strips of I ndian - red cloth that they dressthemselves in . This has a curious look of corduroy,but is poorly woven and does not wear well .A very good way of making a hedge in Uganda

is to cut a number of poles from bark - cloth treesand just stick them in the ground where you wantthem to grow

,before the rains , and afterwards

you will find that they have all “ struck,

” andproduced leaves l ike so many Aaron ’s rods .Some “ shambas

,as these patches of cult i

vation are called,boast the presence of the papaw

tree,which bears a fruit which is quite palatable

when a few drops of fresh l ime -ju ice— also grownon the premises— are squeezed over it.These children of nature are great on chickensand eggs , and are del ighted to produce them asa solace to the weary traveller

,but the eggs are

best poached or fried for Obvious reasons. Theinhabitants are a quiet

,submiss ive people

,keep

ing the road near their abodes careful ly weeded,

as much in Obedience to their local chief as inaccordance with time - honoured custom . Theytake Off their hats in a most pol i te manner whenthey meet one on the road , and say Ow withbroad grins in return to one ’s salutation of

Weywully !” We taught our regimental dog

,

Peter, that , and he always responded with a lowgrowl . They aren ’t bad porters

,and they don ’t

20

THE M IL I . H ILL M I SS ION , KAM PALA

IN A BANANA PLANTAT ION

Life and Scenery in Ugandamake a fuss

,which is a great thing. I hate

people who are always Shout ing and grumbl ingand asking for impossibil ities .I now propose taking our “ safari Off the

hard high road for a bit,and going more or less

across country to Masindi the reason being thatthe V is itor has probably got quite bored enoughwith an undeviatingly stra ight road — though aneatly la id - out station

,such as Hoima

,l ies many

miles away at the end of it— and would wish tosee something of the l ittle- known paths and byways off the beaten track .

After leaving Bombo,the head -quarters of the

4thBattal ion K ing’s African R ifles , the localtroops

,which is s ituated on a long ridge , rather

higher than,and overlooking, the surrounding

country,we reach the Bus ibika plains in the

course of a couple of days .By the way

,the mention of Bus ib ika brings

someth ing into my mind that I had very nearlyforgotten

, one of the things for which Ugandai s famous— i ts awful and infernal thunderstorms .More or less regularly at a certain t ime da i ly,

varying a l ittle earl ier or a l i ttle later after a fouror five days’ dose , the clouds bank up, heavy,black

,and glowering in the south

,with the l ightning

flash ing l ike B il ly Oh ! ” in the midst . A hushcomes over the land— the calm before the storm .

Shortly a dull roar is heard amongst the treesabove the distant booming and roll ing of the

2 1

Lake Victoria to Khartoumthunder

,and then

,heralded by a blast of wind ,

bending the trees in i ts path , the storm burstsright overhead and is upon one . Pouring, drenching rain

,not fall ing, but being l iteral ly upset in

bucketfuls,starts the programme , accompanied

by the most vivid fork - l ightning I have everseen

,and the banging, crashing, and volleying of

the thunder. I remember years ago a thunderstorm atJ ena, in Germany, which impressed meas a boy by the way in which it played roundthe hill - tops overhanging the town

,backwards

and forwards ; and I have experienced severals imilar storms in the H imalayas

,where the sight

was magnificent ; but I have never been SO awestruck in my l ife as I have by these awful stormswhich continual ly hang around the V icin ity ofLake V ictoria. I saw a tree struck the otherday in the forest when I was out in one of thesedemoniacal performances . The tree was flattenedstraight outand that , combined with the generalatmospheric disturbance

,made me th ink a bit !

I n about twenty minutes it ’s al l over— that isto say , temporarily, as one usual ly gets a “ backkick ”

of the rain for another hal f- hour,which

,

however, i s not so bad as that which accompaniesthe first burst of the storm . Then the sun comesoutand all is at peace aga in

,though sopping

wet ; and so we go on , the muttered cursesgradually subsiding as the sun ’s rays dry one ’ssodden clothes . But to -morrow ’s repetit ion of

2 2

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Life and Scenery in Ugandath is da i ly occurrence will cal l them forth oncemore . I t is sa id that these storms come off quitethree hundred days outof the 365, round thelake, and I think that statement is well insidethe mark. I should imagine that even LeapYear makes a difference !After leaving the foot - h i lls

,which seem to end

in the Bus ibika district,we enter on a j ourney

across practical ly flat country,with the gentlest

undulations only here and there ; a land where ahil l is a thing to wish for as a diversion to thelandscape. Winding through the Short grass incountry that resembles a glorified orchard , wefollow the footpath

,which is now a mere track ,

ever and anon breaking out into a scrupulouslyweeded six - foot road as we near the next shamba.

The Waganda are a gregarious folk , and whereone Shamba springs up

,there wil l others be col

lected together.We are now bearing north - north-west betweenthe Myanja and Lugogo rivers

,which are some

twenty - four miles apart . I should not call this agood game country

,but there are a couple of

large herds of elephant which will afford heaps ofexcitement in case our minds are bent that way.

Avadavats and pretty l ittle grass finches rise inclouds on each and every S ide, and the ga i lypainted tou racou or planta in - eater fl its from treeto tree where the bush merges into forest. L i l ies ,white and red

,flourish in their thousands for the

2 3

Lake Vic toria to Khartoumfirst fifteen miles

,otherwise a cont inual vista Of

bush and glades takes us to the vicinity of theKafu river.Now we come to the land of palm trees ,

beautiful tal l borassus palms,with their long

straight trunks swell ing out half- way up,and then

narrowing again . Bunches of orange - red nutsOf sorts cluster underneath the W ide- Spreadingrustl ing fronds

,ornamented with the nests of

countless weaver birds,which dangle therefrom .

This means that we are nearing the river Kafu ,the boundary between Uganda and Unyoro. Wecross at the end of the dry season over a witheredtangle of reeds and mud

,binding the roots of the

floating vegetation together,and affording a

somewhat doubtful foothold as one staggers overthe quaking mass . Beneath this run the deepwaters of the river

,which flows sluggishly into

the V ictoria Nile at Mru li .

I n the distance,towards the north

,we now

catch sight Of the hills round our temporary goal— Masindi , still some twenty-five miles away .

A long, long, wearisome march is th is , throughthickish bush country

,al l dried and decayed

underneath the trees at this time Of the year ; t ill ,on joining the Mruli road

,we drop into a pretty

val ley ful l Of native huts,cheek by jowl with

their bright green splashes of cul tivation , whichShow up to advantage aga inst the red - brown soil .Masindi , nestl ing under the shadow of the hil l

24

Life and Scenery in Ugandaof the same name

,i s (or was , I should say) taste

ful ly laid Out with avenues and groves of Capel ilac and blue gums

,by that finest of gentlemen

riders and best of fellows , poor Roddy Owen .

Peace and prosperi ty are apparent on every side .

The prospect from the elevated verandah of theresident Official’s bungalow is pleasing. Housespeep outamidst the trees

,and numerous gardens

and shambas,contain ing crops of all sorts , clothe

hill and plain al ike,whilst the foreground around

the Government Offices is bril l iant with massesof red and yellow cannas

,the whole scene well

set off by the purple Ho ima hills to the southwest.This is a great junction of highways . From

th is central posit ion one can journey along wellmade roads to Mruli

,Fowe ira,

Fajao and theMurchison Fal ls there

,H oima the capital of

Unyoro,and Butiaba.

We will take this last route,because it leads us

through the great Budonga forest, which is wellworth vis it ing if only on account of i ts scenery ;and also because Butiaba i s the head - quarters ofthe N ile flotilla

,which will transport us yet further

north on the bosom of the N ile as far as N imule.We bid farewell to the jungle track we have beenmarching along up to date

,and betake ourselves

to the “ hard high once more,rol l ing over hil l

and dale, now descending to the uttermost depthsof a swamp

,now ris ing over the highest spot on

25

Lake Victoria to Khartoumthe ridge . At first the road winds its way througha populous and fruitful country

,the local savage

being a shade more Off- hand than the Baganda,

t il l after some fourteen miles it plunges into aV i rgin forest.One passes of a sudden from the burning glare

of an African sun , from the black and yellowburnt - up grass and the stunted trees outside,trembl ing in the noonday heat , to a dim mysteriousvista of black tree - trunks , accentuated at frequent intervals by the patches made by sunbeams shining “ from above on to the place beneath .

The road through th is grand forest is for themost part flat, but with two or three very deepclefts where the rivers ( in the rains) run throughit . One side of the road is in the Game Reserve ,SO that i f you find elephant on that S ide you haveto wai t t il l they have crossed the path beforeshooting them . I n th is forest there l ives amysterious species ofantelope

,cal led Intallaganya ,

pecul iar in that the males carry no horns . M ’sambia and M’

V uli trees rear their bare white trunkssome hundred feet into the a i r

,spreading thei r

enormous branches for the rema in ing forty orfifty feet over the rubber V ines and thick undergrowth that chokes the way. Beautiful butterfl ies in thousands fl itter hither and thither ;great hornbills ra ise their harsh screams

,and

,

together with the pretty picturesque black - and26

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Life and Scenery in Ugandawhite Colobus monkeys , that peer at one andskip about the trees

,rudely break by thei r dis

cordant cries the silence of a primeval forest .Or is i t that these harsh sounds impress thesurroundings upon one the more emphat ical ly !Something seems wanting in the unnatural

hush after the rustle of the l izards in the grassand the continual whirr of the tree - frog ; and onewelcomes the sight and sound of the scamperingmonkey high above

,as a pleasing contrast to the

sombre silence below .

Perhaps we may meet a logging camp, andbecome aware of the rythm ical “ hish ” of thesaws

,or hear the echo— and echo carries far in

these gloomy depths— of some savage at loggerheads with another 0 ’ that ilk over a sweet potatoor something equal ly important to h im . But onereal izes that harsh and discordant sounds areunavoidable They beset one’s dimly l ighted paththrough the forest

,as they beset some other paths

on l i fe’s highway ! L ight at length breaks thedarkness, and suddenly we find ourselves oncemore in the bl inding glare Of the sun

,and before

us Lake Albert l ies Spread some thousand feetbelow— quiet

,placid

,and calm .

We now descend the steep escarpment andtramp for about five miles through dusty bushand sandy plain to the harbou r of Butiaba . A thinhook of wind - blown sand runs outinto the lake ,and curl ing round towards the north

,makes an

2 7

Lake Victoria to Khartoumexcel lent natural haven for the steam - launch andsteel boats which comprise the N ile flotil la. Thisbay is some four hundred yards across , and isfairly deep in the middle . Across the water theCongo mountains

,that constitute the watershed

between the N ile and Congo basins , are clearlyV isible

,to the north —west the sugar- loaf peak that

stands behind Belgian Mahagi being easilydistinguishable .

We wil l break Off here temporari ly,as the

voyage down the N ile is described elsewhere, andit would infringe on the copyright of anotherchapter to talk about that mighty river here .

Besides , i f she thought she was being treatedwith undue levity it might hurt her feel ingsI f we hadn ’t gone to Butiaba

, we should havemarched forty - four miles from Mas indi to Fajaoand the Murchison Falls

,where the N ile breaks

through the steep rocky escarpment which wanders all round this side of Lake Albert . Weshould have taken a course due north of Masindiinstead of the west- north - west point we made toButiaba. At Fajao we should have crossed theferry in a big dug - out canoe

,taking several trips

to convey the loads of tents and food across , andthence we should have had a dry , hot , dustymarch for some fourteen days to N imule by wayof Patiko

,which used to be an important stat ion

,

but is now abandoned,as well as Wadelai on the

N ile bank.

2 8

L IGHT AND SHADE IN THE BUDONGA FORE ST

Life and Scenery in UgandaI t seems a great pity that the Old Nile province ,

populous and corn -growing country that it is,and

extending for some 2 80 miles along this hugewaterway

,should be practical ly handed back to

the untutored savage after so many l ives andyears have been spent upon it

,and that i t

should be represented by three stations— Koba,Nimule

,and Gondokoro

,with only a nominal

area for administrat ive purposes round eachstat ion .

We will resume the descript ion of the countryfrom N imule onwards

,whither we are conveyed

in the good ship K em'

a .

On landing there we find the aspect of thecountry has undergone a change . Nimule is astraggl ing place

,each house being pract ical ly

isolated on i ts own h ill . Close to the Collectorateand the Pol ice Guard - room there is a smal l nativebazaar, dominated over as usual by the enterpris ing I ndian traders . The mil itary h ill , nowevacuated , is nearest the N ile , and the pol icel ines are a short distance down the Gondokororoad . Behind , and some l ittle way from thestation

,which is buil t on the banks of the

Unyama river,rises a collection of highish hil ls ,

rocky,and almost bare of trees . I nstead of the

beautiful greenery of Uganda we are face to facewith rugged hills and barren ground

,overgrown

as far as the eye can reach with thorn trees andbreast - high grass . This country struck me as

29

Lake Victoria to Khartoumbeing the counterpart of Northern Somal iland

,

both in i ts vegetat ion and also in the strangeoutcrops of craggy hil ls which spring up promiscuously outof the roll ing plain , some of themfive hundred to one thousand feet high , othersa modest fifty only. Here the so - cal led cart - roadto Gondokoro starts

,though why it is so mis

named it is not easy to say in face of the abruptnullahs

,as yet unbridged

,and the rivers , which

when in flood make the road quite impassableboth for wheeled traffic and for porters .Our road goes north , to the east of N imule

hill,on the western s ide Of which the N ile foams

and boils down the FOla rapids . I f the wind beblowing from the right direction the wayfarer canjust distinguish the dull roar of the waters .After a march of twelve miles a pretty camp isreached at the junction Of the Assua and Atappirivers , over which hal f a dozen stately borassuspalms actas sentinels

,and the f roa -f roa of

their broad fan - l ike fronds makes music pleasingto the ear.The general trend of the ground is a gradual

S lope to Gondokoro,and also to the west . All

the watercourses,dry at th is time of the year

january— and the two or three rivers that usuallyhave water in their beds

,help in the ra iny

season to swell the volume of the Nile , on our

left hand. The country is flat to undulating, andthere are no hills to be cl imbed on the way.

30

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Life and Scenery in UgandaThe road goes monotonously on for 1 0 7 milesthrough grass and mimosa thorn bushes

,the

latter of which are now clothing themselves intheir spring garb of yellow blossom

,making the

breeze del iciously sweet . Now and again a herdof hartebeest or waterbuck is v iewed from afar

,

trotting Off alarmed at the approach of strangers .Near the Uma river, which has also to be crossedat the fourth camp

,may be seen perhaps a herd

of stately roan antelope , though , on account Oftheir almost proverbial shyness, this depends on

good luck rather than on good management .H erds of elephants , too , frequent these bush

sol itudes,going down to drink at the N ile '

some

ten miles off, and are away again long beforedawn

,back to their jungle fortresses to sleep Off

in the midday sun thei r moonlight revels . Duringa march in these parts i t is rarely, i f ever, thatone passes a day in which one does notcomeacross the tracks of their feet dragging throughthe grass and scraping the evening’s dew fromthe blades

,leaving green marks amidst the pearly

dewdrops .And it can be very hot here ! The force of

the sun is redoubled through its rays beingthrown back from the rocks and stones , t ill attimes it is a veritable inferno .

The other river Of importance, both in s ize andfrom a shooting point of V iew , that we cross on

nearing Gondokoro , is the K i t , where we leave3 1

Lake Victoria to Khartoumthe Madi tribe behind us and make friends withthe Bari .All the villages we have passed S ince leavingN imule are much of a muchness. A thorn zeriba ,strong enough to W ithstand the attacks of amarauding leopard or hyena on the village flocksof sheep and goats , surrounds a collection of huts ,each abode made in a circular ring of s tone slabs

,

or of wattle and daub , with a peaked thatchedroof

,the eaves well overlapping the wal ls . Dotted

amongst these are the curious— shaped granaries,

glorified baskets,some five feet high and four feet

in diameter, perched on poles to keep the rats andmice at bay . These contain thetribesmen

’

s worldlywealth in the Shape of dhurra or mil let . L i ttleelse is grown in these districts, as they are too farnorthOf the equator, and their cl imate is notsteamy enough for many bananas . Dhurra anda very few sweet potatoes form the staple diet ofthe people.At last the tenth day’s marching sees us leaving

the dry thorn scrub— we have passed very fewvillages en m ate— and entering the sparse cultivation that betokens the V ic in ity of Gondokoroand then the sight of the Union jack gladdensour hearts as we walk across the burning paradeground to the shady trees near the offic ials

’

houses, only a few yards distant from S ir SamuelBaker ’s old encampment

,with Belinian hil l

behind us on our right hand , the scene of many32

Life and Scenery in Ugandaa fight between him and the now peacefulBari .And nowour journey is done— that isto say, asfar as Uganda is concerned

,and I th ink I shall

notbe alone in saying that , for i ts varied sceneryand the interest ing customs and habits of itsmany tribes

,Uganda is hard to beat .

33

Lake Victoria to Khartoumwater— on the N ile . The Insurance Pol icy , i fwe may descend to such a business - l ike term ,

of the railway , was water— the N ile . I f wehad had a N ile in S omal iland the Mad Mullahwould now be non esi with few to grieve forhim !The N ile runs outof Lake V ictoria Nyanza.

I ts precursors are therefore the streams whichflow into this lake ! Of these the largest andlongest is the Mara river, having its source InBritish East Africa on the Man escarpment

,

flowing through German territory into LakeV ictoria. May we then not speak of the Maraas the mother of the N ile ! This great affluentof the lake we discovered and surveyed , whenon the Anglo—German Boundary Commission .

I t is a pretty, rocky stream ,broadening outpast

patches Of white gleaming sand,whilst i ts banks

swarm with every variety of game.The Ripon Falls at j inja mark the beginning

of the N ile of commerce and geography. Betweenthese fal ls and Lake Albert it is known as theV ictoria N ile ; after leaving the latter lake it iscalled the White N ile— in contrast to the BlueN ile ris ing in Abyssin ia— or Bahr - el- J ebel of theSudan tribes . j ebel is the Arabic word for

mounta in , SO this name means the river thatflows past the (Congo) mountains . For a hundredmiles between N imule and Gondokoro the r iverdissolves itself into a series of falls and rapids

,

36

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Lake Victoria to Khartoumsmooth waters above . Cormorants continual lyfly up to the very foot of the falls

,settl ing

,and

being carried down,apparently half- drowned

,in

their endeavours to snatch their finny prey fromthe swirl ing waters . Down they come, and , onreaching the end Of the tumbl ing waters

,back

they fly aga in rel igiously . Their efforts areextraordinaryCrocodiles abound here, ch iefly in the quieter

water above the tumult and turmoil Of the fal ls ,where there are no sunny rocks to bask on,

andwhere

,therefore

,the rifle in the hands of the

sportsman seeking to while away a monotonousAfrican afternoon in practis ing his cunning on thecruel brutes , cannot be brought to bear with muchprecis ion .

Some short distance below the Ripon Fallscome the Owen Fal ls

,which are hidden from

V iew in the impassable tangle of a primevalforest ; indeed , from the Ripon Falls almost toLake K ioga

,the casual traveller sees very l i ttle

of the actual river. The Owen Falls, with theirroaring rapids and turbulent waters

,are , they tel l

me,finer in their way than the Ripon Falls .For forty miles

,to Kakindu , the river pursues

its lonely way,winding through a V i rgin forest ,

unseen and li ttle known,but making its presence

felt in the booming of the fal l s and song of thewater between the forest giants which ra ise theirmighty trunks to the blue vault above .

38

The NileThis part of the N ile must

,unfortunately, be

veiled from further description til l we meet itagain in the neighbourhood of Kakindu , where acurious steamy fog rises from the smooth Oilysurface— evidence of a greater depth of waterand the cessation of rocks and rapids .Lake V ictoria Nyanza is 3 7 20 feet above the

level of the sea,and here we were forty - four

miles away at the next navigable point on theN ile— atKakindu — en route for Lake K ioga, atan alti tude of 3420 feet , so the drop in this shortdistance is considerable.I take it that th is latter lake stands in much

the same relation to the V ictoria N ile,in the

shape of swamps and spil ls,as the sudd country

lower down bears to the White N ile ; and thattherefore Lakes K ioga and Kwania— whichadjoin one another and real ly are a part of oneanother— make little difference in the level ofthe N ile between the two points— Kakindu ,which we have left behind us

,and Mruli

,which

we are fast approaching. These two lakes , i nreal ity less than lakes and more than mereswamps , are kept going by the excess of waterfrom Lake V ictoria more than by thei r own insignificant rivers running into them from MountE lgon and the , east .There is a sl ight but dist inct current set by theN ile from Kakindu to Mruli and onwards , inconsequence of the Karuma rapids near Fowe ira ,

39

Lake Victoria to Khartoumand the eventual Murchison Fal ls at Fajao .

K ioga and Kwania are at present nothing but amiserable waste Of waters . They should , however

,afford a good means of communication for

export of produce from the comparatively un

known tribes along their northern shores as soonas these districts are Opened up. These twolakes Would be invaluable as well as indispensablefor a l ine Of l ight- draught

,stern - wheel steamers

connecting a Uganda railway extension toKakindu with another branch ra i lway fromMruli or thereabouts , and so opening up the richprovince of Unyoro as far, perhaps , as the neighbou rhood of Fajao or Bugungu in the northeast corner of Lake Albert. This would meanthrough communicat ion with Lake Albert andthe White N ile as far as N imule

,besides opening

up an artery for the export of the products ofalmost the whole of the Eastern Congo

,from

Mahagi on the east shore of Lake Albert . I twil l be a great day for the British Empirewhen all i s jo ined up.

There is noth ing l ike being an optimist ! Icame across a splendid definition of a pessimistthe other day. H e who has the choice Of twoevils and takes them both !To continue. The great Mruli of the days

of S ir Samuel Baker’s untrustworthy friendKabarega

— i s “ done finish'” More or less of

a pestilential swamp has taken its place. A few40

The Nilemiserable hovels , i t is true , raise their headsabove the grass and cal l themselves a village ;but these are deserted for higher ground in thera ins, when the floods come down and the waterspreads itself over al l the face Of the land .

The road to Masindi from Mruli i s banked upto a height of S ix or eight feet for some tenmiles , for use in the wet weather.The N ile flows north from here

,rounding

Tattenham Corner ” with the same left - handedbend near the Karuma Falls or rapids — whichever i t pleases one to cal l them — and Fowe ira ;whence navigation ceases once more

,and with

placid or broken surface in turn i t approachesthe Murch ison Falls . For some five miles or soabove the latter rocks and rapids impress one

with her (Old N ile is always a lady) supremepower and force

,t il l at the fal ls she surpasses

everyth ing seen before . From the face of therocks at Fajao ferry

,below the falls

,where there

used to be a fort in the Mutiny days,one can

understand that the overpowering smashing forceof the great volume of water compressed into asmall space has gradually

,through cycles of wear

and tear, eaten away the rock , and thus causedthe Murchison Falls to recede. They are said tobe nowa mile further back than in bygone ages ,and at the present day present a stupendouscataract divided into two fal ls , one below theother.

4 1

Lake Victoria to KhartoumAbove the fal ls the river is from half a mile to

a mile broad . A short way below the fal ls thestream attains a width of perhaps four hundredyards . The falls themselves are scarcely twentysix f eetin breadth . Imagine

,then

,the scene

they present— a swirl ing torrent , boil ing, seething, and foaming beneath the narrow crags ,broken half-way by the ponderous rocks it leapson and over

,resolving itself into bubbles and

spray below ; the picture is framed in with bri ll iant green verdure

,and the same Old eastern sky

above .

I t reminded me of Dante’s Inf erno, as , besidesthe grand scenery that it is impossible for me todescribe in adequate terms

,I saw below the

shapes,dim and misty through the spray

,of the

gigantic crocodiles which add to the fame of theMurchison Falls . At the ferry I pictured themas so many dreadful Charons ; whilst seen fromthe fal ls ,

' they seemed l ike the horrid pits intowhich all wicked souls fal l and are engulfed.

Huge,loathsome , cruel monsters , waiting for

their daily bread ! Shoot and never spare !The usual means Of leaving this place — where

,

by the way, there is a telegraph station— is byboat , as from here the N ile is navigable as far asN imule , a distance of some two hundred miles .The first th ing that strikes the observer on

boarding the steam launch, or one Of the steel

boats belonging to the N ile flotilla,is the in

42

T I I E V I CTOR I A N ILE

THE \VOODE I ) BAN KS OF WH ITE N ILE

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Lake Victoria to Khartoumcause us to turn sharp to the north , our sturdyl ittle craft sl ips along on the stream , under thewing of the mountains on the left bank

,which

overshadow our voyage til l they are blotted outby sleep .

We awake next morning to find that thescenery has changed. On either bank beautifulwoods

,in which Dule il palms are occasional ly

seen,alternate with open places which permit a

good V iew of a hilly country. We steam first onone side of the river and then close in under theopposite bank

,according as the channel

,which

does not vary very much,is known by the man

at the wheel . We leave Lake Albert and thebanks of roll ing mist

,through which only the

mountain - tops rise into V iew,Shutting in the

horizon on all sides,and shape ou r course be

tween where the eastern bank runs into a bare ,broad strip of land

,and the hills on the west

approach the river. Soon these latter begin todeserve the eulogistic appellat ion of mountains ;below them are green downlands stretch ing tothe river. Numerous large herds Of antelopes ,their red - brown skins blazing in the sunl ight ,graze near the river ; smal l troops of elephantsare sometimes to be discerned in this neighbourhood— which is a favourite haunt of theirsmoving S lowly along the bank ; and bands of

snarl ing, frightened monkeys take to fl ight as thesteamer follows the tortuous channel .

44

The NileThe euphorbias are very striking in the woods

along the west bank ; notthe beautiful columnl ike tree with its candelabra - l ike branches

,but

the variety which , owing to i ts entanglement ofleafless branches , looks l ike a broom turnedupside down .

I n al l parts of the river, ch iefly at the influxof the smaller khors

,are to be seen baskets and

weirs of wicker -work , indicating an abundanceof fish . Large and small fishing boats , madeoutof hollowed trunks , cross and recross thestream ; their inmates , generally one person , butoccasional ly two or three, are very black incolour, and handle their single paddle with greatdexterity . S ometimes a dusky friend of theengineer ’s on board will l ie to in midstream ,

hang on to the launch as we pass , and throw onboard a good supply of fresh fish of all s izes togladden our hearts as wel l as those of ourSwahil i sailors .The river is frequently broken by huge rocks

adorned with motionless herons sitting uponthem . Enormous masses of vegetation blockthe access to the river from the shore ! these arecomposed ch iefly Of papyrus and a variety of

tall reeds and river grasses ; pink convolvulusestwine themselves from stem to stem , and pistia,with other small aquatic plants , form a th ick turfon the edges of the enormous growth of theseimpassable masses . Numberless swarms of

45

Lake Victoria to Khartoumgolden weaver birds find here retreats wherethey are never d isturbed ; a pant ing hippo plungesinto the spray- crowned waves , leaving its shadyresting - place at the noise of the steamer ; andl ight

,long - legged waders hasten over the broad

leaves of the water l i l ies, picking up a few insectson the way .

We tied up to the bank of an even ing,and

the instant the steam -whistle sounded the tal lgrass started into l ife . Savages appeared on

all s ides with the bundle Of firewood they arepaid to cut to replen ish the voracious maw of

the boiler. A Madi vil lage would be S ituated closeby in al l probabil ity. I t i s usual ly smal l

,and

consists of rather miserable hemispherical strawthatched huts

,with thei r s ides made of Short

vertical logs closely planted together,and the

interstices stuffed with mud . The inevitable threelegged granaries fil l the vacant spaces betweenthe dwell ings . Dhurra and S imsim are largelycultivated . The men are usually “ stark Oh !occas ional ly sporting a diminutive apron of wellworn cotton . They wear iron ornaments for themost part

,though several of the presumably

weal thier members adorn themselves with ivorybracelets above the elbow

,and numbers have the

rims of their ears pierced in which short piecesof stiff straw are stuck .

In th is part of the N ile,owing chiefly to its

extreme breadth — sometimes a mile to a mile46

THE M URCH I SON FA I LS

LOOK I NG UP THE R I PON FALL S TO LAKE V ICTOR IA

The Nileand a half— mudbanks form a kind of barrierthrough which the steamer slowly makes its wayfrom one channel to another, generally cast ingOff al l the boats towed behind except one

,drag

ging that through,and then return ing for the

others,taking them one at a t ime. The river

here is al l pa inted blue on the maps,but the

actual channel on either s ide of the mudbanks

i s narrow , much Of it being choked by reeds andpapyrus , in which are numbers of large bays andlagoons . When the papyrus growth permits aV iew of the shore

, you frequently see steep banksOf red clay

,usual ly dotted with houses in the midst

Of their cultivation .

Wadela i i s st i ll a telegraph station,but deserted

as regards c ivi l and mil i tary occupation,as also

is old Belgian Wadela i over the way, some fivemiles further north . H ere we pass Emin ’s Oldtree

,stil l known by that name

,where he sat and

meted outjustice ; and the monotony Of thescenery gives one time to meditate on the trialsand troubles endured

,as wel l as the brave deeds

performed by that unfortunate man — unfortunatebecause of great phys ical affl ict ion and his tragicdeath at the hands of wicked men . H i s namel ives in every savage bra in on the banks of theN ile ! an undying but sorry monument to hisgreat character.R is ing from the east bank of the river a low

mountain chain is seen from a long distance ,47

Lake Victoria to Khartoumgradually receding from the river Short grassand isolated tal l trees adorn the otherwise bareflanks . Papyrus and yellow - flowering ambatchdeeply fringe both banks . On the east bankwild rocks , towering one above the other

,stand

majestical ly up ; but the level of the countrygradually s inks in the neighbourhood of theperennial Unyama river, on the shore of whichis buil t N imule , looking over the plain slopingtowards the east.The west bank , on the contrary

,presents a

plain exposed to floods at places,while rather

high and well -washed columnar mountains rise ina long chain

,culminating at the barrier reef and

rapids , and form the rocky portals of the N ilethat guard the narrow approach to N imule fromthe north . Closer and closer they trend towardsthe river , partly covered by bushes and tre es ,Often presenting bare cl iffs

,rendered black by the

action of sun and rain . On a stil l , equatorialn ight a distant rumbl ing here announces theapproach of the rapids on the hither s ide of theFola Falls ; we are gradually nearing the narrowest part of the great river.We have passed deserted Belgian Dufile some

five miles back . For a considerable time thiswas one of the chief Congolese ports on theN ile ; and the tumbledown ramparts of the fort

,

to say nothing of their well - built burnt - brickbungalows

,with their broad, a iry verandahs , and

48

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The Nilethe gardens surrounding each and all

,speak for

the excellence of Belgian enterprise in theseoutlandish parts .From peaceful N imule a hundred miles of

unnavigable river,Of fal ls and shallows

,Of rapids

and rushing water,break the spel l unti l Rejaf,

on the Belgian side,i s reached . The river val ley

becomes narrower and stil l more narrow , thescattered boulders grow more numerous . On thebanks mighty Dule il palms rock their featherytips in the soft breeze conjured up by the swiftlymoving waters a group of lofty tamarinds marksthe place where the path suddenly deviates fromthe river to lead over the hil ly heights of itsconfining valley

,and the way for the most part

leads over their summits,t il l down we fal l to the

Fola rapids . Thorny acacias , sharp - edged grasses,

and rocky rubble characterize the descent ; andhere on the western bank the great KukuMounta ins of the Congo begin .

The Rhine,beloved of tourists and renowned

in poetry,is hard to beat for picturesqueness in

those parts where one gets peeps of enateanx nna’sole/omen amongst the trees ; but for pure , wild ,appal l ing grandeur in the heart of a rugged ,rock- bound country

,with the “ Peace of Africa ”

call ing its loudest,I ’l l take the N ile for its next

forty miles .A series of tempestuous

,tumbl ing rapids

,

through dark and gloomy gorges , clothed withE 49

Lake Victoria to Khartoumfeathery papyrus and forbidding umbrel la thorntrees

,results in the Fola rapids

,where the river

rushes down as through a shoot ; not so verystriking or impressive , ti ll one sees that theserugged Congo mountains are just being tippedwith the glory of a rising sun , whilst outof theveiled

,mysterious depths comes the thunderous

sound of fal l ing waters , booming the more no isilyin that Creation has hardly yet awakened outofits deep sleep .

Khor Eyu,a boil ing mountain torrent , leaps

and bounds down the face of the crags under thesite of a long— evacuated Dervish post

,erected

here to keep the l ine of communications openthrough this narrow defi le , under the shadow of

j ebel Meto . I n a series of fal ls and rapids ,broken now and again by a calm , Swift- flowingpool deep down between the rocks

, or twistedinto swirls and eddies

,onward goes the cease

less flow Of many waters . Grotesque forms of

euphorbias stand outupon the naked rocks, nowwith short trunks spl itting up into a semicircularentanglement of leafless branches

,now with high

pil lar - l ike trunks bearing only at the summit afew candelabra .

The valley begins to open out a l ittle,though

the mountains stil l rear their m ighty crests on

either hand . On the other s ide of the river , hillsinterchange with park land and patches of sandtal l sturdy trees provide shade

,and wooded belts

50

“ A SER IES OF TEMPESTUOUS , TUMBL I NG RAP ID S

" A THUNDEROU S SOUND OF FALL I NG \VATER S

The Nileadorn the river . Here are the small beginningsof cul tivation on the banks , with possibly a Madior Tuktuk vil lage squeezed in . Terraces coveredwith cul tivated patches of green dhurra

,s imsim ,

and lubia,and at times a few huts upon the flanks

of the h il ls, Offer agreeable resting - places for theeye . I f you pitch your moving camp in th isneighbourhood

, you may perhaps hear the hippogrumbl ing and “grousing at his midnight mealbut sti l l the rugged escarpment towers above one ,

in the guise of the Akiko Mountains on theeastern bank

,and the Aronz i Range in the Lado

enclave.From this point the track

,stil l a mere foot

path,leads along half-way up between the hil l

tops and the river,which is sti l l narrow and

foaming but rather less l ike a mountain torrentthan before .

The way sinks down into deep gull ies formedby the rain

,only to rise again suddenly out of

the swamps to lead us past small clusters of

tamarinds and an occasional borassus palm . Onour right the N imule Mountains have graduallydescended , in the midst of its forests and woods ,first to hills

,and afterwards to mere excrescences

bordering the river.As far as old- time Labore , an erstwh ile Dervishstronghold of great strategical importance

,the

blue river foams in a thousand smal l cascades andrap ids

,rushing out of i ts deeply hollowed channe l .

qr

Lake Victoria to KhartoumI n a lowl ier frame of mind , let us look at the

camps by the wayside. One’s tent is pitched

under the beautiful shade of a friendly tree,with

waving grass on al l s ides down to the river ’s edge ,rel ieved now and then by the stately form of apalm tree

,pleasantly rattl ing its great fronds to

the tune of the breeze . R ight behind one aforest - clad hill

,resounding with the metall ic bell

l ike clang Of many partridges,rises abruptly ;

and the V iew outof one’s tent door takes in theswirl ing river, with its forest - clad islands dottedhaphazard about its course , and the green woodson the other s ide whilst beyond loom , tier upontier, the red and purple Congo crags sharplyoutl ined aga inst the clear blue Sky

— the background to all .The narrow river, broken by many a rock, stil lfoams and roars between the hil ls , which com

pletely shut outthe V iew of the country beyond .

The route, which has led over gneiss rubble andwhite sand sparkl ing with mica

,continually broken

with ra in furrows and Swamps in the bottoms , nowpasses through a hilly country, seamed and scoredin al l directions by rocks and ravines . Then theroad crosses ridges of t ightly packed rocks runn ing towards the river

,where they suddenly dip

precipitously down til l they hide their crests inthe fleecy breaking surf of the rapids .After these magnificent V iews, which have

pursued one for the last forty miles or so, the52

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The Nilecountry becomes flatter and stonier, and thegeneral aspect rather monotonous

,as

,though the

river stil l bubbles and babbles its way along, i nview of the path most Of the time

,there is not

so much variety in the scenery to occupy theattent ion .

I think it i s gett ing a bit hotter, too, whichmeans that the stones and rocks are coming intoplay by throwing Off the heat rays .At Old Fort Berkley, of which l ittle now

remains,there are no hills worth mentioning, and

the river takes a sudden bend eastwards for fivemiles or so

,where the comical l i ttle sugar - loaf

excrescence cal l ing itself Rejaf H i l l st icks i tsnose outof the surrounding Lado pla ins andkeeps guard over the most important Belgianpost now rema in ing on the N ile, from which ittakes i ts name .And so to Gondokoro

,the last ' post in the

territories administered by the Uganda Protectorate , the scene of brave S ir Samuel Baker ’sadventures with the then truculent Bari and theyet more lawless slave ra iders . The ramparts ofhis Old fort stil l remain .

H ere we board one of the comfortable sternwheel steamers , replete with every luxury, theproperty of the Sudan Government . We havesaid good — bye to Uganda and all the picturesqueportion of the N ile

,and

,except for some ex

citing navigation,l i ttle rema ins to be described ,

53

Lake Victoria to Khartoumtil l the traveller reaches the stately ruined templesand carvings Of ancient Egypt

,famed in the

moonl ight and in romance.S lowly we steam over the sandbanks to Lado ,

another Congo station which stands,neat and

tidy,on the left bank. Then in some three

hours we arrive at Mongalla, the southernmoststation of the Sudan Government on the easternbank . The ground here is very low and therefore swampy in the rains

,and for that reason

mosquitoes and fever are rife . The Governorof the province and some Sudanese troops , withthe usual complement Of other Egyptian Officials ,l ive here, and they manage to enl iven their daysby the good shooting to be Obtained in theforest land behind . There is a very fine gunboatstationed here— one of the latest types , with twinscrews , very comfortable as a home .

We are Off again after a short stop to pickup ma il s for England

,and pass K i ro

,the

most northern Belgian station in the Ladoenclave , along which we have been travel l ingever since we left Lake Albert behind us . Ateventide we pul l up at Game iz a to take woodon board .

AS th is is the last fuel station til l the suddcountry is passed

,all the holds on the sandal

are fi l led up,and every ava i lable space is piled

with logs . By the way,a barge with an upper

deck roofed in with corrugated iron,cal led a

54

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Lake Victoria to Khartoumquiet, and the ship goes along on her downwardjourney

,twiddl ing round l ike a teetotum , hitting

now one bank and now the other, rounding one

corner by a hair ’s breadth , and crushing andgrinding up against the reeds when the nextcomes in the way, t il l at last they are able toget her head straight again

,and away we go

once more. I t ’s al l right in broad dayl ight whenwe can see what is going to happen

,but it’s quite

another matter at night— S i tting at dinner, letus say.

Next day we wake up in the sudd country , ofwhich l ittle

,i f any, description is necessary . A

vast sheet of reeds and papyrus,with an occa

s ional ambatch tree raising its golden - crownedhead above the swamp

,meets the eye on every

side,and extends far beyond the human power

of vision — a waste of marsh and spil ls , floatingon the water. They say that none of the LakeV ictoria water ever reaches below this ; i t is al lspread outinto the swamps and loses itself bysinking into the earth or evaporating into thea ir . The sudd roots do not touch the ground ,but are interlaced and intertwined with one

another, forming an impenetrable barrier to navigation ; and yet it is quite impossible to walkover them .

Nothing l ives here except cormorants , darterswith their long snake - l ike necks

,and beautiful

long - tai led bee- eaters,resplendent in green and56

The Nileblue above and V ivid scarlet on the neck andbreast . These last hover and swoop all day l ikeswal lows , and revel in a grass fire , because it stirsup the insects for them . As you S itin the bowsof the boat in the evening countless n ight - jarsflap past you on noiseless wings in their hunt formoths and other insects Of the n ight. No

mammals l ive here ; no hippos , as there is nolanding - place for them ; and no crocs , as thereare no antelopes for them to eat . All is givenup to sol itude .

Two days in the sudd is enough for mostpeople, and with Lake No to follow ! That isvery l ittle better

,except that one does see a

thorn forest now and aga in , with a Dom palmand a scattered vil lage or two as one approachesthe Sh illuk country further east.I n qu ick succession on the right bank come

the mouths of the Bahr - el- Ze raf— nota river ,but a big overflow from the sudd— and the Sobatriver. This latter is remarkable for i ts tremendous flooding after the rains inland on theAbyssinian border

,and it, together with the B lue

N ile and the Atbara,both miles further north

,is

ma inly responsible for the great storage Of waterat the Assuan dam ; and more especially forkeeping the dam fi l led . The rains at the respective sources Of these great rivers up

- countrycome at different periods every year

,so that each

in turn contributes its Share of water.57

Lak Victoria to Khartouquiet

,and te sh ip goes along on her (I

j ourney,tdling round l ike a teetot

now one bak and now the other ,corner by I ha i r ’s breadth , and crushgrinding u against the reeds when tcomes in t e way

,t i l] at last they

get her bed stra ight aga in , and aonce more . I t ’s al l r ight in broadwe can see Vhati s going to happen , butanother mete r at n ight— s i tt ing at dius say.

Next dajwe wake up in the sudd cwhich little if any , description is ne cessavast sheet ) f reeds and papyrus , with at!s ional ambtchtree raising its golden - 0

head abovethe swamp,meets the eye G)

s ide,and etends far beyond the huma'

of vis ion waste of marsh andon the watt. They say that nonV ictoria waer ever reaches bspread out

’

nto the swampS inking int the earth ora i r . The d roots do 11

but are ire rlaced and intertwinedanother

,forI ing an impenetrable barrie

gation ; andyeti t is quite impossibleover themNothingtves

with theirlong

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Lake Victoria to KhartoumA new post was being establ ished on the

opposite bank at Tonga I sland— which is intended to be the means of ingress and egress forSouthern Kordofan— in the shape of a telegraphOffice in the Austrian Mission House and a fewstorehouses .Next we see under the shadow of a few Dom

palms the mil itary station of Taufikia,a “ dust

heap ” in the wilderness,dry and burnt up in

December. I n the rains the buildings stand justclear of the swollen river whirl ing past in front

,

and of an extensive swamp behind . Anothermilitary post

,some forty miles on, is Kodok

Fashoda , as it used to be cal led— the administrat ive capital of the Shilluk D istrict and the headquarters of the Governor thereof. Traces of

Marchand ’s earthworks stil l remain with a strongnorth wind blowing the place is enveloped ina dust cloud .

Thence the N ile, now some four hundred yards

broad , winds its stately way past the GameReserve on the eastern bank

,past Renk and

j ebel Achmed Aga, a small hil l rising outof adead flat plain

,flowing on through sandy desert

dunes edged on the river bank with dry andwithered - up thorn~trees , to E l Dueim , the landing- place for E l Obeid

,the capital of Kordofan ;

ti l l about twenty miles above Khartoum thedreaded shallows begin

,and the river broadens

to a mile in places .58

The NileThen Khartoum is seen in the distance as a

l ine of palm - trees surmounted by white minarets .H ere the two N iles meet. S oon Omdurmancomes into view, a mud - buil t straggling townsome eight miles in length . I t is the largestmarket on the N ile

,and seems lost in the forest

Of masts of the native craft that bring down thecountry ’s produce from the fertile plains of theBlue N ile .

The river flows on , with a bluer tint in the waternow

,past the barracks of the Sudanese soldiers ,

under the crumbl ing wal l s of former Dervish forts,

past J ebel Surgam , the S ite of the ba ttlefield thatknocked fanaticism outof t ime for a while .

Gradually the river grows shallower and morerocky , t i ll , some sixty miles down , the Shablukacataract bars navigation . H ere we leave themighty river for a time

,but it sti l l flows on.

Past Berber and Dongola,the scenes of many

a bloody battle and sanguinary encounter withthe Khal ifa’s hordes , the N ile surges on i ts waybetween black ironstone crags and bil lows of

gleaming yellow sand,now roaring over the

rocky barriers that extend across the river bed inthe shape Of cataracts

,now washing the base of

some bold precipitous cl iff,now lapping the sand

strewn edge of some quiet bay.

We meet it again next at Halfa, where a stil lmore palatial— if possible— steamer than we hadmet before is wai t ing to enable us to continue our

59

Lake Victoria to Khartoumjourney on the bosom of the river . We are fastnearing the pylons and sculptures of ancientEgypt

,older far than the Pharaohs and more

aged than the ken of man . The banks are greenwith corn , and above the thorny acacias wavethe feathery fronds of date palms standing l ikesentinels over the crops . A short distance onlyfrom the water ’s edge

,sand and bold and rugged

rocks stil l hold their sway over al l creation .

The creak Of the “ sakia,

”or Persian water

wheel,turned by the meek - eyed bullock

,for ever

wandering round his straitened circuit , makesdrowsy music to the ear.Laziness is in the air. I t is catching from the

sights and sounds around . Two or three men ,dressed in clean white robes

,are sitting on a log

passing the time of day some dirty ch ildren aredoing nothing save rol l ing in the dust a woman ,WIthher water- pot balanced on her head , steadiedby her sl im brown arms

,turns to watch the

steamer pass ; a donkey stands with droopinghead , fast asleep in the grateful shade of a treethe ears of corn are nodding to the zephyrs ;the sailor at the leads reports the varying depthOf the water in a monotonous sing- song ; someof the crew are dozing in the bows ; the wholelandscape is fast asleep , as also are the hugeColossi — gigantic figures for ever staring at thedawn — that guard the sacred portals of AbuS imbel

’

s temple .

60

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The NileThese statues of a dead and gone Rameses

are some sixty feet in height,two on each side Of

the entrance to the gloomy interior whose wallsare stil l covered with the pa int and frescoes oflong-past ages . These stately figures

,which

keep watch and ward over the mysteries with in,

appear weird and ghostly in the moonl ight .S oon the temple fades from V iew . Then , withan occasional accidental bump on a hidden sandbank , we steam onwards past the long l ines of

majestic date palms . Leaving on our right handan ancient Roman fortress towering overhead on

a bold bluff,we approach the great Assuan Dam

,

in whose lake, formed by the pent - up waters , thetemple of Philae stands placidly gaz ing at theiron - bound shore around. I t is buil t upon anisland

,now submerged so that the waters lap its

pylons and walls,covering the foundations in

some depth of water . The carvings stand out inbold rel ief

,and the capitals of the mass ive

columns are highly decorated with ch isel l ing,

evidences Of a very far - advanced civi l ization .

The great wal l of masonry buil t to dam up thewaters Of the N ile with a view to improve theirrigation of Lower Egypt is about a mile fromPhilae , and its posit ion is marked by the arms oflofty cranes , used to drop the stones and concreteinto their places in the new outer wall that i sbeing constructed to strengthen the foundationsfor a further barrier, s ixteen feet higher , to al low

61

Lake Victoria to Khartoumof the storage of yet more of the l ife - givingfloods of the upper reaches .The train conveys us now along the banks of

the m ighty river (the well - laid rai ls emphasizingthe meeting— place of cultivation and desert) byway of Luxor, past the temples of K om Omboand K arnac , under the frown ing cl iffs that shutin the tombs of the kings in their gloomy gorge ,to Cairo

,a more modern city with i ts gleaming

minarets and mosques,i ts palaces and gardens

,

and the citadel towering over all,set off against

a background of the Mokattam hills,whilst the

Pyramids act the part of three guardian sentinels , sh ielding the cosmopol i tan populace frominjury .

The Pyramids of Ghizeh stand ona plain,which

after the inundation is bright with vegetation,and

dotted all over with vil lages embosomed inthickets of date palms

,tamarisks

,acacias

,and

sycamores,than which nothing could wel l be

more picturesque at the distance of a mile or

two . The Pyramids have been so Often describedthat i t is needless to repeat the oft— reiterated wordsused to express the wonder and astonishment ofevery visitor to these Oldest and grandest of

human monuments , hoary with the age of

s ixty centuries . The crowds of Arabs,who

inhabit the rookery near by , clamour in brokenEngl ish for money and the honour Of escortingthe ef ena

’i up the vast staircase which leadstothe62

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The Nilesummit ; unkempt and unclothed children shriekfor “ backsheesh as the carriage rattles acrossthe fine bridge which spans the N ile at Kasr - elN il

,almost at the base of these ancient monu

ments ; and in a couple of hours or less thevisi tor returns to a city of operas , theatres ,concerts

,hotels

,and cafes . Thus the contrast

between the past and present is even greater thani t otherwise would be .Yetthe Pyramids of Cheops form only one

group of many similar structures stretching alongthe western bank of the river, weird vestiges ofa past that was already remote before h istorybegan .

I n a hollow a few hundred yards to the southeast of the great Pyramid crouches , as i t hascrouched for thousands of years

,continually getting

buried deeper and deeper in the driving sand,the

great stone figure known as the Sphinx,which

,

l ike the antique temple recently disinterred in i tsV icin ity, was old before the idea of building hisstupendous mausoleum entered the brain of

Cheops . The mysterious Sphinx,carved from

the sol id rock,sti l l smiles en igmatical ly a man’s

head surmounting a l ion’s body, symbol ical of thepower and glory of the then ruler over the land.

The N ile has now nearly finished its longjourney

,a wonderful voyage from the tropics to

a more temperate zone , through barbaric regions .I t has now but to wander through the great

63

Lake Victoria to Khartoumdelta extending from Alexandria to Rosetta

,

i rrigating the country far and wide with its fertiliz ing mud - bearing waters before losing itself inthe sea.

There is l ittle , i t is true , of a spectacular character wherewith to enl iven these last hundredand fifty miles

,unless it be that the traveller starts

from this end first,when all the excitement of a

strange country , and the great unknown lyingbeyond

,fires his imagination as he gazes at the

varying landscapes illumined by the rays of thesetting sun

,dyeing land and water in a blood - red

glow,followed by rainbow colours of an Eastern

twil ight in its last despairing effort , til l darknessfalls on everything.

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IV

MR. CHURCH ILL’

S JOURNEYTHROUGH UGANDA To

KHARTOUMAnd o

’

erthehills, and far awayBeyondtheir utmostpurple rim ,

Beyondthe night, acrossthe day — TENNYSON .

N account of my first trek throughUganda as Officer in charge of Mr.Churchil l ’s escort and party general ly

,

may not be devoid of interest .Mr. Churchil l had come out in his official

position as Under - Secretary of S tate for theColonies to spy outthe land , and Obtain a firsthand knowledge of i ts inhabitants , i ts customs ,i ts resources

,and its possibi l i ties . H e had

travelled through East Africa, and done anenormous amount of work inspecting cotton andcorn industries , sheep and cattle farms , policeand civi l establ ishments , as well as vis iting outlying and newly formed stations in districts thatare in their infancy as regards development . H ehad worked hard in receiving deputations ofcolonists

,and in helping to settle various points

that were brought to his notice , but had nevertheless found time for sandwiching in a certainamount of sport and shooting. He andhis

F 65

Lake Victoria to Khartoumparty had been very fortunate in securing severalof the many species of East African big gamebefore arriving in Uganda.

After a short period of further official duty atour capital — Entebbe— he proposed to continuehis journey to England , home , and beauty , V iathe N ile

,more as a hol iday than anything else

,

as a much - needed rest from affai rs of State afterhis labours both at home and abroad .

Although I had previously seen him at Na irobi,

in East Africa, with a V iew to settl ing the route ,inquiring into ways and means

,and arranging

the hundred - and — one detai ls of this uniquechance for an ideal trip through a beautiful tropical country

,we did not meet official ly til l his

disembarkation at Entebbe in November.After a few days spent in S ightseeing thereand in Kampala

,our party embarked on the

William Maeé z'

nnon, from Kampala’s port,Munyonyo , for j inja on Lake V ictoria, which isthe town perched over the Ripon Fal ls

,the b irth

of the N ile . We arrived in a violent storm ofra in and wind , late in the evening, but luckilyfound our camp had been pitched wel l before thera in had begun , so that al l the various loads andboxes of stores were well under cover and protected from the wet .After a farewell dinner from the Governor thatnight

,we set forth on our first march early in the

fresh coolness of the next morning.

66

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Mr . Churchill ’s JourneyOur party consisted of the Rt . Hon . WinstonS . Churchil l

,M.P.

,P .C. , Under- S ecretary of S tate

for the Colonies Lt. - Col . Gordon Wilson,

the Royal Horse Guards (Blue) ; Mr. E . Marsh(private secretary) ; Mr. A . G . Boyle , Sub - Com

missioner of the Province of Usoga ; Mr . S .

Ormsby, transport officer ; Capt. Stevenson, R.E . ,

in charge of the Uganda Railway ExtensionSurvey ; Lt . F ishbourne , R.E . , his subaltern ; D r.Goldie ; myself ; Lt . R. B . Knox , 4thBattal ionK ing ’s African R ifles , my subaltern ; and Mr.Scrivings , valet to Mr . Church ill .A very happy crew we were

,determined to

enjoy ourselves,and make the best of any diffi

culties that might chance to cross ou r path , andthe most of what shooting the country that layin front of us might afford . November, be i tsaid , is not the best time of the year for sport .I t is not qui te late enough in the season as thegrass is too green , and telegraphic advices hadinformed us that in the more sporting districtsthe nat ives had not begun to burn the long grass

,

as is their yearly custom . The consequence wasthat we saw but l ittl e game , compared with thenumbers I came across on my return journey inFebruary. But that did notdeter one gallantsportsman from trying his utmost, puttinghimsel f to any and every inconvenience ;Col. Wilson worked from early morn til l dewyeve in his ardour for the chase

,and met with

67

Lake Victoria to Khartoumgreat success as a due reward for h is severelabours .After a twelve-mile march along a red - brown

road,up hill and down dale through everlasting

elephant grass , anything up to twenty feet high ,swallowed up at intervals by gigantic forest treescovered with creepers and flowers innumerable

,

and swarming with bird and insect l ife,we came

to a hal t at our first camp — a t iny clearing onthe side of the road , surrounded by a neat fenceof grass work . I n this clearing huts

,both large

and smal l , had sprung up as if by magic duringthe last day or two , erected by the local chiefwho held sway over that portion of the road .

There was a big hut , to be used as a s ittingand dining- room , about twenty feet high by fortyfeet long

,constructed of acacia poles sunk in the

ground and rafters of the same material bound tothem with strips of bark ; the whole thatched andwalled in with armfuls of long grass

,care being

taken to leave broad ample windows al l round forthe free passage of air. A house of this kind isquite impervious to a tropical rain storm

,provided

the roof be made with a very sharp slope . Allthe houses were of th is pattern , though of coursethe rest , being only bedrooms, were l i ttle largerthan an ordinary tent. There was also a guardroom as well as a kitchen . All our camps wereof this description . I f in any of them therewere not enough houses to accommodate such a

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Lake Victoria to Khartoummore than the former ; Musa would hit Hamisover the head as the latter had been given al lbananas

,whilst the former had only potatoes ;

the quarrel would possibly terminate in jumaswooping down and bagging the lot ! The firstday or two ’s trekking usually results in a scrimmage or two , as these men have been drawn fromthe whole district

,and very l ikely have never

seen one another before,much less become

acquainted ; but as soon as they get shakendown and make friends with one another, and ,above all

,find that the white man isn ’t trying to

steal or make hishitout of thei r food , they carrytheir heavy loads along

,day in day out

,quite

cheerfully,having their labours rewarded with

meat when master has been lucky enough toshoot an antelope or whatever i t may be .

At five O ’

clock I usual ly see al l the men whoreport themselves sick . These men are paradedand come Up in charge of thei r different headmen ; and whilst the cases of fever are few

,a

goodly number will be found to be suffering fromcoughs , and more stil l from pains in the “ l ittl eMary ” from over - eating. To be a successfuldoctor amongst these people it is necessary togive them medicine that e ither tastes very nastyor has a severe effect. I t ’s not a bit of goodserving outto them tabloids , which do neither.To do th is is to make them lose al l faith at once ,and those who are real ly i l l wil l very l ikely stay

70

Mr . Churchill ’s Journeybehind — to die in any wayside vil lage . However

,

Dr . Goldie was with us on this occasion , and Iwas saved this daily labour.At and after dinner, jokes and merry jests ,interleaved with discussions on topical subjectsand the interesting remin iscences of our cleverleader, made the evening fly ti ll bedtime came ,and one by one we dropped into that wholesomesleep begotten by heal thy exercise .

The brazen notes of that infernal bugle wouldwake us next morn ing to dress and pack up inthe dark

,and put away a hasty breakfast by candle

or lantern l ight before start ing on the day ’s march .

Such was the daily round of l i fe to which webecame gradually accustomed

,growing fitter and

harder by degrees as we marched further andfurther on ou r j ourney .

We were al l as merry as grigs and as happy asthe day was long , al though some of us had our

noses pointing towards home , whilst others hadjust reappeared from leave on a new lease of l ifein these tropical wilds . However, in spite ofstories and anecdotes

,I don’t fancy many of the

latter were fired with a great longing to return tothe gaie ties of London and the pleasures thereof.As some one has it

Ohthetalesthatyou cou ldtell ,Piccadilly,

(Fitfor heaven, fitfor hel l)P i ccadi lly,

7 1

Lake Victoria to KhartoumOfthe folk who buy and sell,Ofthe merry marriage bell,Ofthe birthday, ofthe knell ,Ofthe palace, ofthe cell,Ofthe beldame andthe bel le ,Ofthe restofthem who fell,

P iccadilly.

I think that describes it to a tick !On our first day ’s march we saw no game . As

a matter Of fact,I was not altogether sorry, as

things had to be got ship - shape , and there werecountless details to be settled and heaps of workto be got through as is always the case at thecommencement Of any long trek . We had forgotten a few things into the bargain , and extracandles and soap had to be sent for .A messenger produced by the local ch ief was

entrusted with the necessary letter,and ran Off to

j inja l ike a lampl ighter, travell ing to such goodpurpose that the missing stores arrived in then ight in ample time before the next early start.The ordering of the stores , food, crockery, etc. ,was no smal l matter

,as l ittle could be obtained

on the way even at the exorbi tant prices whichI ndian traders charge at the more distant outstations and as we were voyaging a long distanceon the N ile , during which there would not besufficient room in the boats to take any of theporters , the food , etc. , had had to be divided intohalves - one for present use

,and the other for

the last part of the journey to be sent on before7 2

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Lake Victoria to KhartoumMany large huts lay scattered in the fields ,and their inhabitants stood in groups upon theway clothed for the most part in white .

“Otiano ! ”

was the greeting we received in passing, and ,accompanied by hundreds of spectators , wearrived at a large open space prepared for ou r

reception . Bunches of ripe golden bananasappeared on the scene as a S ign of welcome ,baskets of large red sweet potatoes , enormousgourds ful l of native beer

,small native fowls ,

two or three Sheep , and , last but not least , anumber of eggs in a pretty l i ttle basket . Twoof the donors had

,as their somewhat th ick

speech indicated,done all honour to the banana

wine , and they were in consequence S l ightlyelevated ; stil l they managed to show themselvesmore or less at their ease.The banana plantations are general ly very

well kept,but once a year the grass in them

is allowed to Shoot,and after a while is pul led up

and placed in great heaps around each bananaplant

,this being the only manure employed .

When rotting is at an end , which very sooncomes to pass

,the grove looks l ike a huge and

very careful ly kept garden . This and the breakingoff of the suckers , which grow readily , whenplanted

,to form a newShamba is the only tending

the banana requires to make it grow vigorouslyand produce the n ice big yellow bunches of fruitdangl ing from under the long green fronds .

74

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Lake Victoria to Khartoumspectral forms of large bats fl i t through thea i r ; the pennant -winged night -jar fl ies s ilentlywith its long feathers fluttering behind ; bluishl ights mark the trai l Of large glowworms , andbuzzing moths in sombre garb are almost invis ibleto the eye in the darkness of the night . A deepSweet breath Of peace is wafted over the face of

nature .On approaching a bigger vil lage than usual , i t

i s no uncommon thing for a guide to report athorn in his foot

,intimating that it is practically

impossible for him to march any great distanceon the morrow. Full wel l I know that th is isonly an excuse in order to obtain an opportunityfor the porters to indulge in a good drinking boutof tembo

,

”or local beer flavoured with bananas .

What can I do !Forty miles or SO from Lake V ictoria brought

us to Kakindu,where navigation on the N ile

begins . ° This is rather an important l i ttle placein its way as from here broad roads branch off

in al l direct ions in Usoga ,so the local steamer

service has plenty of hard work to perform inthe transporting of freight — chiefly produce— toand fro .

A tiny steam launch,the Victor ia ,

a steelboat, the S ell inza ,

and several enormous dugoutcanoes

,each fashioned with chisel and fire

from the single trunk of a forest giant , comprisedthe flotil la . We packed ourselves l ike so many

76

Mr . Churchill ’s Journeysardines

,inside and outs ide each and all of the

boats . I t was , to say the least against it, uncomfortable ; but though many of us were comparative strangers to one another, we soon found outeach other’s l ikes and disl ikes , and ou r confinedquarters were natural ly conducive to camarader ie

and eon/com ic. One soon Shook down andtook one ’s turn in waiting and wash ing up. Thislast was reduced to a high art , as a plate or glasshad only to be held out of the window at one’sback and dipped in the river without the sl ightestexertion to emerge from the water spotless

,whilst

a wipe with the towel did the rest , and one wasready for the next course on the menu .

We tied up to the bank every day aboutfour o ’clock to enable us to dine and S leep ashore .

This gave the cook a chance to prepare a gooddinner and replenish his store of fresh eggsand chickens

,and to cook food that would be

served up cold next day for breakfast and lunch .

Kakindu was the temporary head - quarters of asection of the Uganda Railway Survey, and herewe met the escort of the K ing’s African R iflestold off to assist them . L ieutenant Clothier andL ieutenant Harries were in charge , the latter nonetoo fit from the results of fever contracted duringhis stay in the low - lying country around . L ivingin the vicinity of stagnant marshes for the greaterpart of three months is not conducive to the bestof health

,and a man needs to be as strong as a

7 7

Lake Victoria to Khartoumbullock , as he was , to stand it for long, no matterhow energetic or how much exercise he takes .H ere we dropped Mr. Boyle

,who had been

Very seedy ; Mr . Knox and my escort remainedhere as well

,as there was no place for them in

the already overcrowded boats . They wouldhave a nice l ittle trek back through l ittle - knowncountry to head quarters

,mapping as they

went.The first part of the journey on the water was

down the river,now flowing between high papy

rus walls,now running outin to a broad lagoon

overspread with water l i l ies and other aquaticplants ; we passed multi tudes of duck, and anoccasional pel ican paddl ing sleepily about on thelook outfor his meal of fish . After some two or

three hours we left Pegi hil l on our right andreached Lake K ioga

,the entrance to which is

blocked with masses of weeds and floating blocksof papyrus and reeds , detached by the force of thewind and current . These had accumulated to suchan extent as to become a veritable nuisance . Wehad to stop the launch every two hours or so inorder to disentangle the bunches of weeds fromthe propeller this would revolve more and moreSlowly , until , with the aid of a boat-hook and thereve rsal of the engines , a large lump of weedswould be detached and left behind floating astern

,

often causing great inconven ience by gettingitself t ied up with the tow rope , and extracting

78

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Lake Victoria to Khartoumwould not recognize it unless i t were pointedout.Half-wayup a stagnant backwater the launch was

cast Off, and the boats with their precious burdenswere poled and pushed by savages wading waistdeep in mud and slush to the lowcauseway whichis euphon iously termed a pier. Mr. Anderson ,who was in charge of this district— part of Unyoro— met us here , and there was a guard of honourof the K ing’s African R ifles awaiting us

,drawn

up close by under the command of Lt . Thompson ,who would accompany us til l we embarked onthe N ile again .

On the opposite side of the river to Mruli l ivea very large tribe of natives

,cal led Bukedi.

These are al l divided into different sections or subtribes

,some of whom are friendly

,but the other

more distant ones , never having been brought intocontact with the white man

,are unfriendly. Dora

,

the chief of one of the adjacent friendly divis ions ,was there to greet us , with some eight hundredof his wild tribesmen fully adorned with paint andleopard skins . They formed themselves up intoa half-moon , dancing and s inging al ternately inhonour of the great white chief who had come al lthe way across the seas to meet them , and themalone . The savage knows l ittle or nothing of

what goes on,or of other inhabitants , outside his

own tribal boundaries , so that any visitor he mayhappen to meet has always arrived S imply and

80

LAND I NG FOR THE N IGHT

CH IEF DORA’S I-RI ENDLY SECT ION OF ’

I HE BUK ED I

(568 Pag e 7 7 )

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Lake Victoria to Khartoumparty ’s V iew of i t ; then , being requested to tel lus about Unionist ideas of it

,we had a second

speech ; while a timorous request for his own

private conception brought forth the most interesting,

i f possible,dissertation of the lot.

I n this engaging manner the march was gotthrough without any seeming exertion

,and one

reached camp al l too soon at times , beingthoroughly fit to go Off Shooting after tents hadbeen pitched and luncheon finished . There wasnothing to shoot here

,however

,as the ever

last ing grass was stil l unburnt,and

,beyond bag

ging a few guinea- fowl and partridge , our exe rtions in that l ine went for nothing.

At last Masindi hove in sight . We had beensteadily marching at a big hill al l that and theprevious day

,so that quitting the sun - dried jungle

for the luxuriant verdure Of cul tivation was agreat rel ief, and it was good to find oneself in thebroad

,roomy verandah of the Collector ’s house ,

with its long chairs and its tables bearing cooll ime squashes . We pitched our camp in an old

disused garden near by,anywhere amongst the

l ime bushes and almond trees , under the shadowof a tal l avenue of rustl ing, sweet - smell ing bluegums . Mr. Anderson had made ample preparation for our entertainment , and here we pickedup our first bag of home mails since plunging intothese uncivi l ized wilds .From Masindi we decided to march due north

82

Mr . Churchill ’s Journey

to Fajao, our former route having been changed

in order that Mr . Churchi l l m ight obtain a V iewof the Murchison Fal ls . The natives had not, inconsequence of this sudden al teration

,had suffi

cient time to clear the roadway properly,so

, on

our arrival in the next two camps , the routine wasvaried by our having to assist to build our house .

I t was rather fun being one ’s own architect,and

then seeing how one ’s efforts turned out after~wards . This march took us through wild andsparsely populated country . The jungle wasthicker and ston ier, and was given up to the largeherds of elephant who roam at wil l in the elephant grass or the thick forest . These animalsare famed for their tusks in this part of the world

,

and everybody comes here to shoot them . Thishas made them exceptional ly savage

,because in

this exceedingly thick country a certain percentage of those Shot at get off wounded andbecome a terror to man and beast til l they arekilled by some more fortunate hunter . They havegota very bad name indeed for charging on sightor smell

,and are really very dangerous .

Nothaving been properly cleared , the roadwas rendered almost impassable in places bythe luxurious and entangled growth of grass .Masses of reeds of imposing height and greatbreadth often intruded themselves between thegrasses , and added not a l ittle to the difficulties of the way. Where there is an accumula

83

Lake Victoria to Khartoumtion of water in the hollows of the ground vege

~

tation develops in overwhelming abundance ; onei s often compelled to use considerable strengthin forcing one ’s way through ; and it is hot tosuffocation in these thickets , in which the Odour ofdecaying plants blends with the strong perfumeof the flowers .Strange to say

,all an imal l i fe appears to die out

of these grass forests during the heat of the day ;one rarely hears the twittering of the birds or thedistant trumpeting of the elephant , so that one ’sheart fl ies into one ’s mouth at the occasional rushand smash in the grass on either hand betokening the passage of the heavy body of some wildan imal fleeing frightened from one ’s footsteps ;even the traveller is si lent, and presses forwardeager to reach some open space .

At night it is otherwise . No sooner doesthe moon flood its S i lver l ight upon the grasswaving inthe night breeze, no sooner do fantasticshadows close around the traveller, than the landis fi l led with ghostly l i fe. There is a rustl ingand a surging ; the spel l is broken ; the animalworld awakes .The 30thof November, the second night out

from Masindi , saw us encamped under theShoulder of Gis i H i l l , the h ighest hil l in thecountryside

,and we made merry. Was i t not

the ann iversary of Mr. Churchil l’s birthday ! andhad notthe cook special orders to surpass himse lf

84

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Mr . Churchill ’s Journeyin his efforts on this n ight of al l Others ! I t wasgreat fun rummaging round in al l the “ chopboxes to try and unearth Something extra specialin honour of the occas ion . Everything wentwell , and the cook excel led himself in notgettingas “ tight ” as usual !Next morning we had a lovely V iew from thetop of Gisi

,over mistyhill and dale and glade

and forest , with the rising sun at ou r backsgradual ly d ispel l ing the clouds of th ick mist

,til l

at length Lake Albert burst upon ou r eyesa long streak of blue some thirty miles awayjust faintly distinguishable .

The road from here on was dreadfully steep .

We descended a series of small escarpments t il lwe reached the rough level below , but even thenwe had to cl imb upwards and downwards throughoutth is march . The path i tsel f, moreover , wasvery stony under foot , so the unfortunate portershad a poorish time

,arriving later than usual

,

having straggled outsomewhat.Then we reached the very edge of the last

escarpment that dropped down to the N ile itself,and

,from a height of some eight hundred feet

above the river,a broad panorama lay stretched

before us . I n the foreground the blue riverspread out l ike a ribbon at our feet , flecked withwhite foam from the Fal ls

,whose roar arose from

the right — flowing swiftly onward through itssetting of green forest intermingled with park

85

Lake Victoria to Khartoumland. Beyond lay the hazy blue woods andplains of the Achol i country to the north

,whilst

now at noontime the dimly seen Congo Mountains reared their blurred ridges against aturquoise Sky to the west .H ere a most palatial hut had been prepared for

us under the direction of the ch ief,James Kago

being a Christian , as many Waganda are , hewas given the name of james . The funny Oldthing had spared himself no trouble to make uscomfortable

,even going so far as to decorate the

interior with feathery papyrus and large bunchesof flowers . That afternoon the whole party wentOff to see the Murch ison Fal ls from above . Thisentails an hour and a half’s walk

,but unfortu

mately I had fever and SO was unable to go andsee them on th is occasion . H ere we left L ieut .Thompson and escort number two behind as wesettled ourselves for another river voyage . Thefleet this time consisted of another steam - launch ,the X enia ,

sl ightly bigger than the Victor ia ,

and three steel boats,which were towed

,one

behind the other, as we dropped down the N ileto N imule . The largest boat

,the j amesMartin

,

took most of the heavy baggage,and then there

was the s ing ir i and the Gooa’ Intent; in thelast Mr. Churchil l and Mr. Marsh slept

,towed

right behind the lot , thus escaping the noise andsmell of the engines in the launch . Moreover

,

as we were generally steaming all n ight,this

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Lake Victoria to Khartoumat the landing- place . We arrived about 7 p.m . ,

and,after disembarking

,enjoyed an al f resco

dinner by the l ight of the moon . D irectly afterwards we goton board again . We were makingfor a spot in which to spend a couple of days inshooting

,and so we couldn’t afford to waste a

moment more than was needful .With fuel replenished

,an al l - night journey saw

us at Wadelai early next morning. This used tobe an important civi l and mil itary station , t i l lfever and consequent great loss of l i fe caused theauthorities to evacuate it. Buil t at first close tothe river

,and later at a good distance back

,i ts

bad character never improved,t il l now it is only

used as a small intermediate telegraph station .

Even that wil l be given up soon .

Some five miles on we passed old BelgianWadelai

,a most important N ile post in Emin’s

day. On,on

,past gigantic forest trees , through

papyrus and reeds,between down and swamp

land,grating over the shallow mud - banks

,and

having an occasional Shot at a crocodile , we pursued ou r way in the sweltering heat , til l at about3 p m . we tied up in a l ittle backwater and sal l iedforth to Shoot.We divided ourselves into three parties . Mr.Church il l

,Mr. Marsh , L ieut . Fishbourne , and

Mr. Bennett,the launch’s engineer, formed one ;

Col. Wilson and Mr . Ormsby another ; whilstthe doctor and I went outtogether. We all

88

REAL S'

I I F F WALK I NG

OUR SHOOT I NG CAMP ON THE N I LE

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Lake Victoria to Khartoumcome across a rh inoceros which it was stronglybel ieved would turn out to be the rare Burchell’sor white variety. Plans were made for next dayit was determined to prolong our stay furtherthan was originally intended ; everybody wastalking animatedly at the same time ; in fact , i twas very difficult to get to bed

,there seemed to

be such a lotto say !Next morning the same parties sal l ied forth in

the same direction as yesterday,so that each

could have a try for what he had seen the daybefore . We had not marched far before wetumbled without any warning into a big herdof elephant

,some sixty or seventy , chiefly cows

and calves,however

,and

,try how we would in

the thick grass,we could not distinguish any

bulls. I t was quite on the cards that they werefeeding away from the herd

,and the cl imbing of

some huge trees did notthrow any further l ighton the important question whether there wereany shootable bulls or not . However , we hungon,

on the outskirts of the herd , t il l a crashing on

three s ides of us gave us warning that we werebeing surrounded

,when we thought i t time to

shin out. ” After another hour’s work we hadseen noth ing bigger than a small bul l , and sodecided to leave them and try ou r luck furtherafield . We walked and walked and did no good ,so gotback to camp in good time to go outagainafter lunch .

90

Mr . Churchill ’s JourneyColonel Wilson arrived soon after with the

news that he had shot a smal l bul l . We were al lmost awfully pleased , as he thoroughly deservedevery bit of luck

, S ince he persevered day afterday with untiring energy to make a collectionof good trophies during his stay in Africa.A l itt le later Mr. Churchil l turned up with his

party. They had not come across any elephant,

but had succeeded in bagging a fine specimen ofa much more important animal

,the white rhino

ceros . I t was feared that th is enormous beasthad become almost extinct in the south

,numbers

having been killed there years ago,so the fact

of their l iving in this neighbourhood was a mostimportant point to be able to clear up. Mr .Churchill had gone outin the same direct ionas yesterday

,and

, on reaching a small rise in theground

,had come across two or three of these

huge animals —

pa, ma, and baby , perhapswandering about qu ietly feeding. Taking everything into consideration

,it was a great day ;

not only were elephant and rhino bagged ,but al l the V is itors had their fair share of sport ,and the highest of high - class sport into thebargain ! There was great rejoicing in camp inconsequence

,and I won ’t take any oath that a

bottle or two of fizz wine wasn ’t “ buzzed , quicklyfol lowed by some of the very finest Old B .C .

brandyNext day we al l disappeared in different direc

91

Lake Victoria to Khartoumt ions once more

,on sport and shooting bent .

The doctor and I sailed up the river for twomiles or so

,landing near the scene of Mr. Church

il l ’s encounter with the white rhino,to bring in

the heads , and to try to gain some smal l advancement with these ponderous brutes in our turn .

On nearing the spot where the animals wereshot the day before

,my gun - bearer tapped me on

the arm,and there

,sure enough

,were three of

them , white rhinos , not a doubt of i t , wanderingabout perfectly unconcerned and happy. A Shortstalk took me near enough

,some thirty - five yards

,

and I thought I had him plumb in the neck,but

i t must have been his cheek - bone , I suppose, ashe was skewways on , because after waltz ing roundl ike a mad thing he fled

,pursued by his alarmed

companions . We followed as sharp as the thornyscrub would allow

,and

,just as we were topping a

rise behind which I had seen them all threedisappear

,a whistle from the rear brought me to

a standsti ll . My orderl ies were pointing to myleft and behind me . They signalled three rh ino .

I crept back,bel ieving them to be the original

animals,and wondering al l the whilehow they

had turned round and gotback so quickly. Idid not stop to inquire , however, and it was onlywhen I saw that the bul l had gotsmal l horns andwas evidently not my former antagonist, that itoccurred to me that I had been wasting valuabletime

,and that the one I had hit was some way

92

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Lake Victoria to Khartoumsome spoons

,and a handful of acid drops . He

cast longing eyes on the meat,however

,and he

nearly dropped his civil ized treasures in hiseagerness to “ col lar a leg of ven ison .

We steamed all n ight , after this our last shoot ,to N imule ; down the same old river

,past the

same old papyrus banks , steering in and outofthe floating sudd islands

,and reached our des

tination at 5p m . or so . I t was dreadfully hotin the sun

,and the glare off the water was very

trying,so we were right glad to pour down a

cooling drink on arrival . Mr. Spire,the Sub

Commissioner of the N ile Province , met us ,accompanied by Mr . Eden and Captain Fl int ,with his pol ice guard ; whilst our escort of the

which would look after us from here toGondokoro , was also drawn up in charge of L ieut .Reid

,a first- rate sportsman and very keen man .

We were royally entertained at dinner thatevening. Every official in the district whocould be spared from out- stations was present ,and I heard afterwards it was the largest numberof people who had ever dined at one time inMr . Eden ’s hospitable abode.Our stay here was not destined to be of long

duration,however

,as next morn ing saw the kit

off with fresh porters and a new relay of provis ions on ou r hundred and seven mile march toGondokoro

,the last trek we should have together.

The country was rocky , with outcrops of quartz

Mr . Churchill ’s Journeyand ironstone , th ickly covered with dried - up

grass,which the natives were beginn ing to burn

in places in readiness for the early rains toinduce the short green grass to spring up andprovide food for their large herds of cattle.There were hil ls , i f notmountains , studded overthe landscape , though we did not pass manyclose to the road , which had been careful lycleared and weeded in readiness for our march .

Some ten miles took us to one of the prettiestof all the camps we stayed at during ou r travels .This was on the further side of the Assua river

,

at its junction with the Atappi river, the waterof which is ice - cold in comparison with the warmAssua water that has flowed for so many milesacross the sunburnt plains .The photograph shows the usual roomy houses

,

which had been so kindly prepared for us al lalong the route , under the shelter of somebeautiful borassus palms , whilst ou r din ing - table

,

a “ chop box,

” and a bundle of bedding are on

their way across this now shallow river,and Mr .

Churchil l is getting a leg - up on to someone ’sshoulder to save a wetting so near camp. I nthe foreground is a huge tusk belonging to alarge ivory caravan we met en route, the propertyof some adventurous I ndian traders who hadspent the last eighteen months in the Congo

,so

they told us .Th is ' i s a great place for game of al l sorts

,

95

Lake Victoria to Khartoumbut , on account of the long grass , we met nothingon the way , though we were told to keep our

eyes well Skinned from here onwards .On the march from this place to the Uma

R iver we passed through a goodish bit of cultivation

,ch iefly simsim , ground - nuts

,and mabogo

,

all of which form the staple food of the Maditribe . Once we touched bamboo country , whichseemed odd to me , as in East Africa bamboosgrow only at excessive altitudes

,and here we

were quite five thousand feet lower than theregions where they are found in that part of theworld . We saw little or no game from the road ,but Colonel Wilson again distinguished himselfby securing a couple of roan antelope— fine up

standing creatures with their stiff manes and longtufted ears . H e had made what he described as“ a short chukka round

,

” but which probablyreally meant that he had sweated blood for miles !The Uma R iver is , I th ink, the boundary

between the Madi and Bari tribes . The extentof country occupied by this latter tribe is abouta hundred miles along the river bank. They aresubdivided into smal ler sections . The Bari isth ickly inhabited . The general features of thelandscape are rol l ing

,park- l ike grass lands — very

l ittle actual ly flat, but a series of undulations ,ornamented with exceedingly fine timber— forestsof considerable extent , and mountains ris ing toabout three thousand feet above their bases .

96

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Mr . Churchill ’s JourneyFrom these mounta ins numerous streams

,which

are general ly dry at this t ime of the year,run

into the N ile . The soil is poor in the neighbourhood Of Gondokoro

,but at a distance from the

river the country is fert ile The mountains yieldthe finest i ron ore , and the Belinian Baris areexpert blacksmiths . Cultivation is carried on toa large extent throughout the country . The corngeneral ly grown is dhurra . This is usual ly thedark red variety

,which

,being rather bitter

,has a

chance of escape from the clouds of smal l birdswhich ruin the crops . Baris are exceedingly neatin their dwell ings

,and there are v illages in

numerable . Each hut is surrounded by a smal lcourt composed of cement made from the clayof white — ant hil ls mixed with cow - dung andsmeared with ashes . These courts are keptscrupulously clean . The huts are Shaped l ikebeehives . The inside wicker -work is quicklyattacked by white ants

,wh ich destroy the wattles ,

but the clay is sufficiently tenacious to form awall when the wood has disappeared . Thegranaries are also formed of wicker - work supported upon upright pedestals of hard wood or

stone to resist the white ants ; the inside issmeared with cow - dung

,and the roof is thatched

in a s imilar manner to the houses. Baris are agreat pastoral people and possess immense herdsof cattle. These are small , act ive animals withhumps

,white being the preva i l ing colour. L ike

H 97

Lake Victoria to Khartoummost of the tribes belonging to the White N ile

,

the Baris have a strong objection to sel l theircattle. Thus you may starve in the midst of

beef !We marched on through the same dry scrub

jungle til l we reached the K i t River,another

of the perennial tributaries of the N ile , nowdry but for a Shallow trickle . By the K i t R iverwas a comfortable banda

,at which we had intended

camping for the n ight , but, finding our day’s march

had been accompl ished in a very Short time , wedecided to double i t and get along ; moreover ,time was pressing

,and every moment was of im

portance. Thus the 14th of December saw us atGondokoro .

The last part of the march was through mostuninteresting and dreadful ly dry country, themonotony of the scenery being broken only bythe grandeur of the Belinian H i l ls .There was dhurra cultivation only near thebase of the mounta ins , as the soil was poor andsandy . We thus had a fairly clear V iew of thecountry. Cattle were grazing in herds on thedistant high ground

,with native boys and men

tending them . The ground was perfectly cleared ,as the cattle had fed Off the grass t il l at a l ittledistance it looked as smooth as a garden lawn .

From the position we occupied , the country inclined upwards towards the base of the mountainsabout three miles away . This stretch abounded

98

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Lake Victoria to Khartoumtary rules . All the soldiers in East Africa andUganda are Mohammedans simply because theyhad been taught by their officers that goodsoldiers should be true bel ievers .That ’s nothing to do with ou r travels

,but I

should have “ bust ” i f I hadn ’t got it off mychest !There were a goodly mob of the local blackman drawn up at Gondokoro to receive us

ch iefs for the most part,armed with Kudu

horns onwhich to make nasty noises,and clothed

in leopard skins . They had been gottogetherby Mr . Wright

, who,in company with Captain

Garrod of the K .A .R . and Dr . Pritchard , ranthe station . Mr . Wright entertained us noblywith refreshments , and related to us a gruesometale of an elephant shoot, two days old,

in whichhis unfortunate gun - bearer had been killed by theinfuriated brute. The gun - bearer was a veryplucky fellow , but unfortunately had been caughtbefore he could escape after the animal had beenseverely wounded . I t ’s strange how it’s alwaysthe best man that goes outon these occasions !We stayed at Gondokoro for lunch

,and in the

afternoon saw ou r porters paid up,and made all

arrangements for their return journey with Dr.Goldie , whilst the three visitors and I had ou r

own effects stowed away on the D al, a SudanGovernment steamer that had been sent up toconvey Mr . Churchil l ’s party to Khartoum .

I OO

A GROUP OF BAR I TR I BESMEN AT GONDOKORO

THE K IT R IVER CROSS I NG

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Lake Victoria to KhartoumAt one of the landing - places on Tonga I sland(a long way on near Taufikia) we stopped for anhour or two to try for Mrs . Gray 's waterbuckwhich inhabits the marshes round here. I t wasal l of no ava i l

,and with the exception of a distant

V iew of a white- eared cob or two,which we spared

,

we saw nothing and continued our journey toKodok, stopping at Taufikia for letters and dinner .At Kodok we had a run on shore in the morningand called on Major Mathews

,the Governor of

the Shilluk Province,bringing him back to break

fast on board . H e had arranged for the Mekor chief of the tribe to col lect h is men in theirwar paint for ou r inspection

,but there was such a

bitter north wind blowing that very few wouldface the cold . SO I was forced to content myselfwith a picture of a man standing on one leg l ikea stork, which is characteristic of these savages .The odd— shaped head - dress which they wear isin real ity nothing but their own hair plasteredwith grease and mud til l i t is matted and worninto a felt - l ike consistency . I t is then carefullyshaped l ike a fan .

A few miles down the river we steamed into aqu iet backwater

,at a place cal led Meshra Ze raf,

where everyth ing in the shooting l ine had beenprepared for us . This was one of the best placeson the river

,we were informed

,and Shikaris were

in readiness to take charge .

The first day,however

,proved rather a failure

102

Mr . Churchill ’s Journeyto Mr. Churchil l and me , who sall ied forth together

,for

,with the exception of a tiny herd Of

tiang,who bolted at S ight, we saw no other four

footed quarry . On nearing home , however , webecame aware of the presence of thousands ofguinea - fowl

,and a suggestion that we should try

and pick some up with our Mannl icher rifles ,using sol id bullets

,met with due reward and

ended in our potting n ine . This showed thatMr. Churchil l is a good shot , which was amplyproved next day when

, on ou r making a freshexcursion in the neighbourhood

,we came on a

smal l herd of white - eared cob,which bolted in

aston ishment as we rounded a corner in the bush .

H e upped with his rifle and knocked down twostone - dead , right and left, whilst they were go ingfull burst. Th is was quickly fol lowed by a niceroan bull which we ambushed

,and a second also

at ful l speed,right and left again . Notso dusty !

Mr. Church i l l had always been a l ittle incl inedto hold the big-game shooter up to ridicule , andI well remember on th is occasion he flung hisrifle down and said , “N ow I begin to see thefascination of the sport H e would make a “tophole ” shot i f he had the time to spare. ColonelWilson and the others had also had their fairshare as usual

,bagging in addition tiang and

waterbuck so our last two days ’ shooting in thejungle was well worth the pains that had beentaken for us .

103

Lake Victoria to KhartoumI shall leave a description of Khartoum to

another chapter,and close this account of my

first memorable march down the N ile . We hadhad a most enjoyable trip from every point OfV iew. Everything had gone right ; we hadn ’thad a single storm or a drop of rain ; the wholeparty had taken the rough with the smooth , withnever a harsh word or the semblance of a grumble— for which I must thank every one . Shortcomings there were

,as indeed there always are ,

even in the best - regulated famil ies— for i t was al ittle bit awkward to order the stores and legislatefor a long trek with l ittle to be Obtained en route.

I nto the bargain,we had al l been singularly

free from illness of any description til l the veryday of our landing at the Palace steps at “Khartoum . A few Short words are necessary inmemory of Scrivings

,Mr. Churchil l ’s valet , who

had served his master faithful ly for some years ,and who, when al l the dangers and hardshipswere over

,succumbed to a sudden attack of

ptomaine poisoning on the very last n ight of thetrip . I t was extremely sad

,and put quite a dam

per on ou r enjoyment . Though he had sprainedhis ankle some l ittle time back

,he was always

cheerful and never uttered a complaint .This was indeed a sorrowful ending. But I

have never enjoyed a trip more or had morepleasant companions to work with .

May their shadows never grow less !104

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Lake Victoria to Khartoum

go bounding over the high grass, now and thenhal ting for a moment to spy upon one and seewhat is taking place behind them .

This species is distr ibuted al l over Uganda ,and is quite the commonest an imal in the Protectorate . I have come across several very n iceheads indeed up the Kafu river

,some way from

Mruli,where they run pretty big ; and aga in up

the N ile by Wadelai . They struck me as beingfairly easy to stalk

,s ince they are nei ther very

wideawake nor ultra - suspicious .They have a f encnantfor standing on the verytop of an ant - heap , i f there is one anywhere near.The other day I saw one walking along, and , notwithstanding excited clamours fo r meat on thepart of my followers

,had made up my mind to

let h im off,as his head did not seem particu

larly big. H e quietly wandered on,cl imbed up

to the top of a mound,and perched himself

l ike a statue against the red of the setting sun ,watch ing us . This was too much ! NotevenSt . Anthony could have resisted the temptation .

One convulsive bound into the air,and he lay

dead in the long grass below.

Twenty- three inches or twenty - four inches is anice head

,for it does notgrow very much bigger

than that. I ndividuals of this species are oftendeceptive in appearance ! one is never quite sureif one i s shooting at a real ly very big one , andit i s often most difficult

,even with the aid of

106

A CORNER OF THE PALACE GARDENS( see /ag e 1 2 0 )

UGANDA COB

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Lake Victoria to Khartoummost difficult to determ ine which Of these carriedthe biggest head. We swung in a bit andstopped before they got our wind

,and I managed

to secure one of the herd . Uganda cob are prettyanimal s and excellent eating.

108

V I

ELEPHANTE LE PHAS AFRI CAN US

SWAH ILI ! TEMBO. ARAB IC ! FIL.

TH I NK the story of the bagging of myfirst Uganda elephant is rather amusing,because he behaved distinctly improperlyand was a cause of great annoyance to

me,bes ides boring one of my men to bitter

tears .When I was on the march north , whils t s til l inUganda proper

,I gotnews of a big herd of

about eighty elephants , with two good bulls init . The remainder was made up of females withtheir young ones and half- grown bul ls . Largenumbers of elephants V is i t th is part of thecountry at the breeding season , because the grassbeing nowhere higher than a man ’s shoulders

,

the l ittle ones can get about with greater easethan in the tal l elephant grass described elsewhere . The country here is plentiful ly sprinkledwith small trees and stunted shrubs , so its generalappearance gives one the impression of an Engl ish apple orchard on a large scale. I t is a topAhole ” shooting- ground

,as it is very difficul t to be109

Lake Victoria to Khartoumambushed by elephants . One can easily seethrough the tips of the grass . But

,of course

,

i f one stumbles into the middle of a herd unex

pectedly, things are apt to be a l ittle too excitingWell

,the savages who had located the ele

phants, self, my orderl ies , who were soldiers frommy regiment

,a porter carrying my food - and

drink box,and one or two others with axes

,etc .

,

made an early s tart from my camp,and at about

8 . 30 a m . came up with the rear -guard of theherd , consisting of about twenty cows and young.

One of the cows had somehow perched herselfon the top of a tree - grown ant -mound , notas asentry though , for she was quietly feeding. Weshifted off down wind so as to keep well clear ofthem when suddenly they took alarm— what atI can t think— and bolted . Then we came acrossa single bul l

, outby himself, but we voted himtoosmall , and so allowed him to wend his way inpeace to jo in company with his destructiveharem .

On we went in the tracks of the main crush .

The great quadrupeds by trampling down thegrass had made a regular high road for us alongwhich walking was easy . AS we progressedthe changing colour Of the dung informed us wewere gaining on the herd . At last we made thehuge brutes out, moving slowly along in two or

three parties,feeding as they went.

We hung on and hung on, now on one side ,I I O

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Lake V ictoria to Khartoumback. I t was al l done in good part. One’sattendants get so excited at the mere thought ofan elephant that they are apt to take charge ofthe Whole Show and jabber away at one anotherin whispers as if one wasn ’t there . Never mind !There are not many fl ies on them ! N ow i t wasa case of “ needs must when the devil drives , ”and I got in the most awful funk at being shovedand pulled pell—mell into the middle of the wholepush . I clamoured for a rifle — my Mannl icherand they gracefully allowed me that

,but they

didn ’t care a twopenny curse for anything else .

And then that veering wind ! I t was a sort ofBalaclava ! Cows to the right of us , cows to theleft of us

,and the big ’

un in front ! Ana’ theywere volleying and thundering, i . e . making therumbl ing noise that denotes contentment andhappiness — talking to the l ittle ones , so thenat ives sayI had got half—way across the fateful zone , ably

backed up by the orderly with the heavy rifle

al l the time wondering what would happen if asingle elephant got our wind and perceived us

,

as,let me emphasize the fact

,we were bang in

the middle of a straggl ing herd— when the worsthappened

,and a beastly young bull , who was

th inking when he shouldn’t , took i t into his headto charge my drink - box from my left rear. Thiswas more than I cou ld stand , and I had to takemy eyes off the monster in front , now some fifty

1 1 2

Elephantyards away only, and let drive at this obnoxiousintruder

,as much to save the precious box as to

protect the shrieking porter who was carrying iton his head . H e , however, stuck to his loadl ike a Briton , and down fel l the bull , nipped inthe bud with a sol id ‘

256 bullet between the eyeand the ear - hole . I then seized the heavy rifle

,

determined to do or die in the midst of the fearful pandemonium to wh ich the report of the riflegave rise .Imagine yourself surrounded by about eighty

or ninety leviathans , al l of whom are dashingwildly about in any and al l d i rect ions , crashingand smashing through everything they comeacross

,trumpeting al l round— a most awe - in

spiring noise— and you in the midst , excessivelyhot and very wet ! Luckily, nothing untowardhappened

,and my blue fright subsided . All

thoughts of the big bull had vanished for everas the herd had cleared , and one could hear themstil l going strong hal f a mile away. I t was usel ess to think of any attempt at pursuit

,so I sadly

retraced my steps— fifteen measured paces— tothe rash idiot who had met his death in his pal ’splace . H e wasn’t so smal l as I had thought inthe excitement of the moment

,and when his

tusks were cut outthey averaged 52 lbs. apiece .

Not so bad after al l !I t is very difficul t to judge of an elephant ’s

tusks unless they are exceptional ly big. I n that1 1 3

Lake Victoria to Khartoumcase you may take it that about two - th irds Showoutside

,but in the case of a Shortishtnicé tusk

,

not much more than half is visible outside thel ips . The root of the tusk begins behind theeye and a l ittle underneath it ; so, i f there is noexcitement on

,and no beastly cows kicking about

,

one is able by means of a good look throughfield-glasses to know if one is taking on a bigtusker or not.As I have said, .the old bulls often wanderabout by themselves some l ittle distance fromthe herd

,only jo ining up now and again for a

short time . The th ing is to locate them whenthey are away l ike this by themselves

,for then

one has not got to keep one ’s eyebal ls continual lyskinned on the look - out for a bad - tempered cow,

who might take one on the hop unawares,and

ram one amidships but as they are always moreor less on the move , i t is very difficult for theguide to find them again after he has broughtone the news of their whereabouts .A wounded bull , i f very sick indeed , wil l veryOften be helped off by h is pals . One gets on

each side of him , and they support his totteringfootsteps

,shoving him along meanwhile ; and i t

is surpris ing what progress they make throughthe thickest bush and grass.A very useful shot at a bul l going away from

one i s to a im two or three inches either side ofhis tai l , if one is within say thirty yards i t rakes1 14

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Elephanthim right through

,and the angle upwards

,i f one

is close enough and end on, is l ikely to get thebackbone and paralyse him .

Recently a friend knocked a great big bulldown twice with two success ive shots in the head ,too far forward

,and saw him being helped off by

two cows in the manner aforesa id ; he putinanother shot from behind

,and even then had the

mortification Of losing him . The elephant gotaway over the border, and the nat ives of thatpart being, as usual , noted ivory thieves , couldnotbe persuaded to give up his tusks .On another occasion a friend

,fol lowing up a

bull he had wounded,was charged by him ; and

although hit twice in the head— too h igh though— the elephant got in

,stuck my friend in the

thigh with a tusk,and then seized him round the

waist with his trunk and proceeded to use himl ike a pendulum

,swinging him from side to side

,

bashing down the grass with his unconsciousbody. H e is al ive to tel l the tale

,however,how

he was saved by a savage who dived in androotled a spear in the animal ’s “ l i ttle Mary .

That must have been a top- hole savage ! Theelephant is a nasty customer

,and one hears of

stories galore about h im,which are mostly true ;

at any rate, they have more truth in them thanmany a “ fish story ! ”I n Uganda the Semliki elephants at the south

end of Lake Albert carry long thin tusks , quite1 15

Lake Victoria to Khartoumdistinguishable from any other tusks . North ofthese, as far as the Kafu river, through Ugandaproper, an eighty- pound tusker is a good onethat is the local term for those whose tusksaverage eighty pounds apiece after which

,going

further north stil l , come the Unyoro elephantsand those inhabiting the N ile province

,which

are bigger than any , running to a hundred andtwenty pounds or so per tusk.

Over in the Congo the tusks also attain verylarge dimensions , judging by convoys of Congoivory that are brought into Uganda for shipmenthome . But it is excess ively difficult to obtain al icence to shoot over the other side of the N ile

,

where there are mil l ions of acres of virgin forestunexplored

,and swarming with ou r valuable long

toothed friends .Cow ivory is of very much finer qual ity than

bul l ivory , but one is not allowed to shoot cows ,and even if one picks up a cow ’s tusks they areconfiscated by Government . They are verymuch shorter and thinner than those of the bull .I should think one of th irty pounds would bea big tusk .

One may not shoot a bull in Uganda or in theSudan with tusks under eleven pounds weighteach on pain of being fined and having thetusks confiscated , and now in British EastAfrica the minimum has been raised to s ixtypounds the pai r with the same penal ty attached

1 16

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V I I

KHARTOUM AND OMDURMAN

T will be less d ifficul t for me to describethese two towns i f I take them together andfl i t backwards and forwards across the riveras occasion demands and

,indeed

,Khar

toum and Omdurman are one so far as trade andadministrat ion go

,and are known to the outs ide

world as one — the capital of the Sudan .

Before I go any further,however

,i t wil l be

just as well to mention that the description whichfol lows records my first impression of the placewhen I saw it as a complete stranger at theChristmas of 1 90 7 .

CertaIn Inaccuracies must therefore be forgivenme. I know the place better now,

but stil l wouldl ike to describe i t as I then saw it

,as it would be

hopeless to confound tod ay with two years ago .

I had long wished to V is it Khartoum,and from

the south — by the same route that I actually did .

The fine Old temples and tombs,magnificent

monuments of a dead and gone civil i zation , would ,I knew

,appeal to me tremendously but I wished

to approach the historic place from the south — by

the toilsome route I did actual ly take— and not1 18

'

l HE PALACE , KHARTOUM

A STREET IN KHARTOUM

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Lake Victoria to Khartoumat Khartoum

,and especial ly the palace there ,

first.The now famous battle

, of which more anon ,that put an end to the Dervish rule

,was fought

on the 2nd of December, 1 898 . I n those daysKhartoum was nothing more or less than a massof ruins and tumbledown houses set in a barrenwilderness . All had been destroyed by orderof the Khal ifa. N0 one l ived amongst the debrisof the once great emblem of British might andright of poor Gordon ’s t ime. All had gone towreck and ruin

,save the palm trees which had

notbeen included in the general destruction,and

which are now one of the beauties of th is ci ty.

I n those days,when the cruel Mahdi and the

bloodthirstier Khal ifa reigned successively su

preme , their head - quarters were shifted over toOmdurman . I am told that seven short yearsago or thereabouts all was chaos in Khartoum .

Now what a change there is !The great white palace

,with its beautiful and

tastefully laid - out gardens,stands forth

,towering

above the other buildings , on the original s iteof Gordon ’s palace of the Old days

,but larger

,

statel ier, and more lofty than of yore . TheBrit ish and Khedivial flags wave to and froplacidly in the breeze

,imparting a sense of securi ty

to the town and its surroundings .We have now reached the banks of the BlueN ile . Owing to the heavy floods for which th is

1 20

Khartoum and Omdurmanriver is remarkable , a great portion of the riverfront here is embanked with masonry. A stonefl ight of steps leads from the landing- stage andconducts us up to the precincts of the palace ,where a good stout B ritish sentry is the firstthing that meets our eyes— good and rel iable , butnot necessarily stout , by the way.

The palace faces the river,and is buil t with

two wings running back and a garden courtyardin between . I t is one Of the coolest and mostcomfortable houses I have ever struck in theEast, but that i s ch iefly due to the kindnessand hospital i ty of i ts occupants .On entering the cool white hall

,the wal l s of

which are decorated with lances and various guns ,one gets a gl impse Of the gardens beyond

,and as

one cl imbs the steps to the house above,one sees

these beauti ful gardens spread outbefore one .

Very cool they seem after thehotvoyage downthe N ile. N ice green lawns laid out for croquetor tennis ; palm trees, flowers

,black wattle in

bloom ; different kinds of Shrubs,every variety

of hothouse plants and jungle vegetation meetthe eye— al l is green and peaceful .Last but not least— incase I forget h im again

is the whal e — headed stork,B alaenicifis r ex

,the

property of Lady Wingate . H e seems to l ikehaving his photograph taken

,for he stands quite

st il l during the process ; and he is even nicer onhis way to bed . H e cannot bear the cool marshy

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Lake Victoria to Khartoumcorners, and never disports himsel f in a l i ttlei rrigation channel by means of which the wateris conveyed al l over the garden

,but prefers to

walk about on the burning dry gravel . Thisis odd, seeing that his home is in the suddcountry of the White N ile . H e loves his keepervery much , and so Showed his disgust on oneoccas ion when the man was removed

,that he very

nearly d ied,and was only resuscitated in the nick

of time by the sa id keeper ’s recal l from durancevile or some such horrid place. The bird ’s mannerof Showing his affection is by opening his jawsone can hardly cal l i t beak— showing a great redthroat , and smacking h i s mandibles at his keeper,who seems to appreciate the compl iment .However

,to Khartoum aga in ! All the river

front is buil t over. The houses , which areoccupied by Sudan Officials

,civi l and mil itary

,

are buil t of red brick in a picturesque but plainand substantial style of architecture

,and are most

comfortable within . Most Of them are smotheredin creepers

,which give them a pretty and homely

look. The wide verandahs to sit in by day, andthe flat roof for one ’s bed by night

,help to keep

the occupants cool and peaceful in the worst ofhot weather. Each of these houses boasts of alovely garden

,in which grow al l kinds and

varieties of trees,as well as masses of flowers ,

but of course there were not many in bloom atChristmas - time in the middle of the dry weather.

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Khartoum and OmdurmanLast, but not least, each garden has its lawn of

good English grass , kept smooth and short andtidy. Water is la id on from the N ile ; everyhouse has its miniature system of canals andwatercourses connecting it with the “ sakia,” or

native water-wheel — a large, clumsy , creakingapparatus

,continual ly " winding up an endless

chain with l ittle buckets attached the whole th ingturned by a bullock

,who wanders round in a

perpetual c ircle pull ing up his buckets — whichtip themselves into a trough as they appear oneby one — slowly but surely

,usual ly with his

attendant boy fast asleep on his yoke .

Khartoum is i n real i ty the seat of the Government , whilst al l the trade in the country passesthrough Omdurman . The War Office

,the Post

Office, and the Gordon College are al l in Khartoum

,facing the river

,whilst behind them are the

European shops,owned and run by Greeks for

the most part— that is to say,al l the good ones

are. The town is,I bel ieve

,laid out in the

pattern of a Union J ack,all ma in roads leading

to Gordon ’s Statue , which stands up well outl inedaga inst an Eastern sunset . The “ man on thecamel ” is wel l calculated to impress the Arab mind .

The town has sprung up wonderfully in theshort time it has been growing, but that i s chieflydue to good land laws and the system of leases ,as well as to the enterprise of the Greek trader.The Sudan without a Greek would be l ike bread

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Lake Vi ctoria to Khartoumwithout butter. L ike the native of I ndia, theGreek trader thinks only of money . Who couldimagine this a mass of ruins such a short t imeago, or who could wish for joll ier surroundingsamid which to pass some years of one’s l ife in ,ti l l— a

“ haboob ” comes along !Now a “ haboob ,” or local sandstorm , i s a

pretty bad thing when i t appears,or rather sur

prises one in the middle of the night . I knowthese dust storms of old in my I ndian days , butin H industan you are unlucky if they last forhal f an hour

,whilst in Khartoum they go on for

a whole day and more sometimes . You maybung up every hole and crevice

,close the windows

and put sandbags along the foot of the door,but i t’s not a bit of good

,as very soon a

thick fi lm of dust will have settled over al l , whilstthe heat with everything shut up is st ifl ing. Fortunately these sandstorms usual ly come from thesouth - east ; i f they come from the opposite di rcet ion

,the dust ofKhartoum North

,straight opposite

on the other bank of the Blue N ile,churned up

by thousands of ra i lway and dockyard feet,would

make the result doubly appal l ing. I ’m afra id ,however

,much as I should l ike to gloss over

them,I can ’t quite consign “ haboobs ” into ob

liv ion,as they are sa id to be particularly bad in

Apri l and May,and I experienced a t iny one

that Christmas to give me an idea of what theyare l ike .

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Lake Victoria to Khartoumparts of the sol id pile ; the guard is furnished byone of the smart Egyptian battal ions quarteredon the outskirts of the city. The Army Of

Occupation in Ca i ro and Lower Egypt general lysends one British regiment up here annual ly, as,though awfully hot, the cl imate is extremely dryand heal thy, much more bearable than the moist ,steamy heat caused by the great system of irrigation obtain ing in Ca i ro 1500 miles north . Thecl imate is so dry that

,without exaggeration

,a

piece of bread cut at the beginning of lunch isl ike a bit of toast at the end of the meal . TheBritish regiment— the Royal Dublin Fusil iers in1907

— 8 — is housed in long,low

,roomy barracks

a short d istance up the Blue N ile,nestl ing under

the waterworks tower.On the oppos ite bank of the Blue N ile isHal faya, or Khartoum North

,a busy

,noisy

place,echo ing with the whistl ing of many engines

and the clang of the steam hammer driving rivetsinto the iron hulls of the steamboats , for it boaststhe ra i lway terminus and a dockyard . A bridgejoining up the railway with Khartoum proper isin course of construction

,and when that is com

pleted Khartoum will be , so to speak, properlycollected all under one roof. The dockyard goesahead by leaps and bounds yearly. All the gunboats and other steamers are put together here

,

the various sect ions and armour plates beingshipped out from home H ere is also the

126

Khartoum and OmdurmanEgyptian Army S tores , where one can buy anything from a 1 2 - pounder gun to a luncheonbasket .Dropping down the Blue N ile for some two

miles to its junction with the White N ile , we seeOmdurman facing us on the left bank . Thesetwin towns are connected by a system of tramways and ferries most convenient and invariablycrammed

,and— so I was told— most profitable

to those who run them .

At first s ight Omdurman appears as an interminable col lection of low mud houses straggl ingabove a muddy foreshore , with , by way of foreground , a picturesque tangle of masts and yardsof the large fleet of gyassas and nuggers , whichhave brought the country’s produce down the N ileto this huge market ; the whole s ilhouetted aga instthe everlasting blue Eastern sky . One does notreal ize the extent of the town nowadays

,nor the

huge dimensions to which i t must have attainedduring the Dervish rule

,until one has mounted

one of the long - suffering donkeys and has riddenround. Everywhere is a sea of mud huts , indescribably fi lthy hovels , opening on to narrowstreets

,each success ive one seeming more dingy

and gloomy than the last . Practical ly al l overthe town , and more especially on the outskirts ,one sees numbers of houses fal len out of repai rand into disuse

,washed down by the rains

,t il l In

some cases merely the bare outl ine of the wal ls ,127

Lake Victoria to Khartoumsome one or two feet high , shows where a habitation used to be ten years ago . The masses of

people that were collected here shortly before thefinal trial of strength under the K erreri H i ll s

,

sounds incredible at the present day, and one

wonders how such a population could possiblyhave been fed and kept together even for a shortt ime.The chief place of interest , I take it , i s the

ruin of the Mahdi ’s tomb,which

,as everyone

knows,was used as a shrine by the pilgrims from

far and wide,til l finally demol ished by shel ls from

the Bri tish guns at the closing scenes of thebattle . I t stood in a small courtyard, and itsgreatwhite dome shone up imposingly over thebare extent of sandy plain surrounding Omdurman to the west . Over the road just opposite isthe Khal ifa’s house— a very ordinary lookingabode

,buil t of sun- dried bricks . I t has a bath

room ins ide with a large tiled bath , l ighted bymeans of skyl ights

,in order that no one might

see the holy man at his ablutions . The house isnow inhabited by the civi l Officer i n charge of

Omdurman .

Outside is a vast square wal led in with stone ,where the whole of the populace were forced tocollect regularly at a certain hour daily to l istento the Khalifa ’s exhortations

,and his expounding

of the Koran . The story goes that he , beinganxious to consol idate his power in the city , had

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Khartoum and Omdurmansent directions for his own particular tribe, theTaaisha, to come and l ive in Omdurman . Theyhad no arms, however, with which to stand upagainst the rifles of the remainder ; so theKhal i fa held a special service one fine day

,that

al l the other tribes excepting the Taaisha had toattend. Moreover, he caused i t to be notifiedthat i t would be highly improper for anyone tocome to prayer armed , and that the right thingto do would be to leave their rifles and bandol iersoutside the square . Well , they say he preacheda special ly long sermon that day

,and when the

unfortunate congregat ion were at last al lowed todepart, they found the Taaisha drawn up in possession of all their rifles and ammunition . Andthese were not returned to their owners .The Beit - el-Mal or treasure - house of the old

days is interesting. I n th is used to be storedal l the Mahdi ’s il l -gotten wealth — wealth acquiredby extort ion and murder when al l other meansfai led . The amount of valuable property thereinfrom time to time must have been worth a vastsum of money.

The corn and wood markets on the river front ,as well as the bazaar contain ing meat

,vegetables

,

and other produce in the centre of the town,are

well worth seeing, and must have been immensein days gone by. Near these are ’ the silverworking hovels— dark and noisome dens— thepottery market, and the smal l stores Of thethird

K 1 29

Lake Victoria to Khartoumrate Greek traders , all mixed up with the carpenters’ quarter, a smal l I ndian bazaar, and thecuriosity Shops .The Greek is ubiquitous throughout the lengthand breadth of the Sudan , and is worth hisweight in gold in the shopkeeping l ine . Theytel l me that in K i tchener ’s march up the river tofight the battle

,almost as soon as the advance

guard of the army arrived at its new camp inthe evening

,there was the humble store of the

Greek awaiting them provided with all the kindsof odds and ends necessary and dear to the soldier’s heart .An excellent rule

,in actual working order in

Omdurman,i s that al l mud houses along what are

destined to be the main thoroughfares of thetown , have to be knocked down and the owneris compelled by the terms of his lease to build astone one in i ts place , on pain of cancellation ofthat document . The idea is going like wildfire

,

so that in as short a time as sufficed for the ressurrection of Khartoum from a heap of ruineddebris , we shal l be unable to recognize theOmdurman of yore .There is a brigade— three battal ions - of S u

danese troops quartered here ; i t was del ightfulto see their beautifully ugly faces . Black andstol id, they form part of the seasoned and splendid fighting men Of the Egyptian army . Theoth, l oth, and 14th Sudanese were in Omdurman ;

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Lake Victoria to Khartoumcamel - back , to visi t the scene of the great battleunder the K erreri H i l ls

,some six miles outof

Omdurman . This was rendered al l the moreinteresting by the fact that Mr. WinstonChurchil l personal ly conducted the trip ; and as hehad been attached to the z l stLancers in theirfamous charge towards the end of the battle, thewhole thing was rhetorically explained

,and the

Old scene laid outbefore ou r eyes,beginning

with the prel iminary operations of the previousnight ( I st December, followed by nextmorning’s exciting affair of outposts round thel ittl e rocky hill of j ebel Surgam , with a distantview of our victorious army ’s entrenchmentsdown by the river, and “ topped up ” with a rideover the actual ground where the charge tookplace. There is a monument erected to thememory of those of the brave 2 15twho fel l inthat bold hand - to- hand smack at the vastly largerpack of D ervishes concealed in the narrow knor .

Strangely enough,the nice old man who was in

charge of the camels we rode on this picnic hadbeen in the battle himself

,one of the Khalifa ’s

right - hand men,and he told us , amongst other

things,that he himself had been one of the

keenest in the hot pursuit of Slatin in his thri ll ingescape from thirteen years’ captivity in the Dervishcamp . Nowhe serves the British flag with un

swerving loyal ty. But the real old Sudanese arejust l ike that. They will fight l ike wild cats for

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Khartoum and Omdurmanright and might so long as they are firmly convinced that i t is fair and square . To give anothercase in point some years ago we got a batch of

recruits for the K ing’s African R ifles , who hadbeen taken prisoners at the storming of theAtbara zareba in 1 898 by the British army intheir advance on Khartoum . After some yearsof zealous service with h is new battal ion , one of

the batch — a certain private— appeared at orderlyroom one morning with a complaint. On beingtold to state his case

,he asked if he need be

made to do his “ physical dril l on parade anymore as he was so old.

” On being questionedas to his age

,he produced from his trouser pocket

a long string of medal s some of which he said hehad won when serving for the Emperor Maximil ian in Mexico in the “ s ixt ies ” ! I t was perfectlytrue

,and he was accorded the required permission ;

and now the dear old thing has been maderegimental orderly

,and si ts bl inking at the sun

on a seat of his own, perfectly happy , st iff withmedals

,doing odd jobs

,and smart as a new pin .

H e was quite prepared to serve any master orcause loyally to the utmost Of his abil ity .

Sudanese are first- rate fel lows to serve with , andtake the rough with the smooth and never agrumble. A joke or a bit of chaff goes downwell , and they Show their appreciation by openingwide their great blubber - l ike l ips and exhibitingthe white ivories in a terrible grin from ear to

I 33

Lake Victoria to Khartoumear. They become very much attached to theirB ritish officers , and produce al l their amusingl ittle family disputes for his examination

,placing

impl icit trust in h im and obeying his “ yes ” or “ no ”l ike so many overgrown children . The Sudaneseenl ist for about twelve years , and the Egyptiansare conscripted for about five years . The latterare very fine men to look upon . I bel ieve thereason for their splendid appearance l ies in thefact that out of every hundred men only threeare picked

,so

,the choice being enormous , only

the finest are taken .

Then there are the sporting and society excitements of Omdurman and Khartoum to be setforth as I saw them . First

,the final match of

the polo tournament. The infantry team , whoin a most sensat ional game had beaten the cavalryin the semi - final quite unexpectedly, were to playthe staff team

,who were pronounced undefeat

able. The latter managed to pul l it off prettyeasily

,but i t was good to watch the game once

more , as the bal l travelled well on the hardbaked sand surface , and the ponies ’ hoofs fairlyrattled .

An old friend in the E ssex regiment, whom Iused to know in I ndia

,played a sterl ing game.

I t was a great treat to me to see SO many Arabponies together, and good - looking ones at that ,especially as I had arrived from a country wherehorses don ’t grow . The Arab steed was one of

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Lake Victoria to Khartoumwater ’s edge and about eighty yards apart. Thereis no cover avai lable for concealment, but thatdoes not appear to make much difference. Thatday there were eleven guns outon ou r s ide of thethe river, and I dare say we l ined about a mileand a hal f of the bank .

Soon the birds appeared fl ighting to the water,high in the air in smal l flocks . I n a few minutesthe fun became fast and furious

,guns popping

and banging away al l around . The sky wasblack with the flocks of sand - grouse as theywinged their way from the desert

,uttering their

curious harsh,metal l ic cry the while . And then

when they settled down to drink it was only forthe merest second before they were off again . Ishouldn ’t think it worth while coming so far forsuch a momentary drink ! Our party of five gunssucceeded in picking up forty- two birds

,whilst

the opposition further along,bagged seventy

five to s ix guns . Notso bad , cons idering thatthe shoot only lasted a hal f- hour or so. Thenback we rode to breakfast and the excitements ofthe coming dayI must notforget to ment ion a final scene .

On the afternoon before I was compelled to bidadieu to these kindly and hospitable towns therewas a leve’e in the palace gardens in honour ofthe new British Minister in Egypt , who hadarrived that morning. All sorts , sizes , and con

ditions of men were present . Governors and1 36

Khartoum and Omdurmantheir attendant gilded staffs the brutal and licentious soldiery in their smart uniforms ; civil iangentlemen in black frock- coats set off by theirred tarbooshes (fez) , composed the European portion , who had left thei r wives at home in accordance with local customs

,except those who had

been asked to tea by the kindly hostess of thepalace to view th is gl ittering scene from the coolverandah above . But by far the most numerousand picturesque were the various nat ive ch iefs andtheir retinues clothed in Eastern garb . O ld Zubeirwas there in a gl i ttering Turkish Pasha’s uniform ,

almost concealed,however

,by an ancient great

coat that had evidently seen service some yearsbefore . Hoary - headed old men and mere boys ,tall and short

,fat and otherwise

,al l more or less

important , and al l big bugs in their ways , somegorgeously, others plain ly dressed , amused themselves in the cool greenery of the palace gardens .I t was a most interesting and bril l iant spectacle

,

but it struck me that the man who enjoyed itmost was Slatin Pasha

, who bustled about withhis chest smothered in four or five rows of medalribbons , with a smile, a nod, or a handshake foreveryone. O f course

,during the years of his

captivity he must have met most,i f not all , of

these native notables ; and anyhow ,he seemed

to me the man who was by far the busiest,and gotmore amusement outof the Show thananyone else .

I 37

Lake Victoria to KhartoumI was very sorry to say good - bye to the place .

The varied scene of colour,of humanity

,and of

trade and traffic al l jumbled together in a strangecountry was interesting in the extreme. Thestreets and bazaars are thronged by the duskydescendants of an old - time people

,crying thei r

wares, shouting to their animals , or squattingon the ground in clumps of threes and fours

,

earnestly whispering and busily concocting aplan for extract ing an extra farthing a bushel fortheir corn from some unfortunate Individual , whoon being landed with the barga in would turnround and do to some other person as had beendone unto him The faint whistle of the trainover the rIver, the swish of water churned up bythe stern -wheel gunboats

,and

,nearer at hand , the

squeaking creak of the water -wheels turnedby the mild - eyed oxen

,provide an abundance of

sound,whilst the rustle of the trees and the

glory of,the flowers are provocative of slumber

before the grateful evening breezes ripple acrossthe water and render the a i r cool enough for anevening ride.The journey back entailed a weary twomonths ’ trek

,and although it was l ikely to

prove exciting and interesting from a sportingpoint of V iew ,

I was loth to leave civil ization toreturn by myself along a route I had just comeover in congenial company . Therefore, as westeamed once more into the night it was with

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Khartoum and Omdurmanfeel ings of sadness that I saw the featherycrowns of the stately palm trees fade into thenorthern gloom

,while the S lender crescent of the

moon sank to bed in the west .

I 39

V I I I

L IONFELI S LE O

SWAH ILI ! S IMBA . ARAB IC ! ASAL

V ERYONE knows the l ion from hisschoolboy days . We ’ve al l seen himin a Zoo

,i f not in h is natural state , so

I’

ll not dilate upon his appearance buttry and describe my latest encounters with him .

On my way up the N ile, on my return journey

to Uganda,I took advantage of the S irdar ’s

kindness in allowing me to purchase a l icence atthe cheap rate prescribed for Sudan Governmentofficials ; and also of the permiss ion accordedtherewith to land at Meshra Zeraf in the GameReserve. I had spotted ” th is place on my waydown with Mr . Churchil l

,and had -made a mental

note of i t then,in the event of my being allowed

to shoot in the Sudan on my return .

I was temporarily “ marooned ” by the southbound Post boat

,and left behind there in the

early morning— hoping for the best as regardsbeing picked up again — to work my wicked willamongst the Sudan game animal s congregated inthis district at the beginning of the dry season .

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Lake Victoria to Khartoumth ing shipshape and making plans for themorrow.

Early next morn ing, some time before dawn , Iset out on my first day

’s shoot,hoping that

,

having started in the dark,I should be able to

catch,on their way back to their feeding grounds

about two or three miles inland , any animals thatmight have drunk at the river later than usual .We had made good progress by the time it

became light enough to see , and the first thingwe came on were three roan , a nice bull and twocows . So I started in for a stalk. Soon

,how

ever,something startled them , and they were Off

down wind l ike a shot . We trudged along ins ilence

,and when I picked them up again through

my glasses,I found they had joined a herd of t iang .

This discovery made me all the more keen,as

I had never come across the latter before . Icontinued the stalk .

AS luck would have it,I now got mixed up

,in

mea’ias r es

, with a large flock of guinea — fowl,with

which the country was simply teeming, and I wasforced to wait so as to let them get my wind andrun away , instead of making them take wing andfly in a chorus of cackl ing shrieks

,and so giving

the antelopes the office that there was danger tothemselves on foot .That took some time

,but when I cautiously

raised my head under cover of a bush , i t was allright ; the creatures I was stalking were sti l l there ,

142

unconscious of my presence . They were nowabout two hundred yards away

,so I kept on

more careful ly than ever,having left my orderl ies

a long way behind to minim ize the danger of

being spotted by these watchful beasts . Themen had orders to s it on an ant - heap, of whichthere were several dotting the plain

,and watch

for my signals on hearing a shot fired . Closerand closer I crept

,by this t ime in a fi l thy grime

all over from the ashes of grass fires that strewedthe ground , ti ll I reached the l ittle bush , about aslarge as a bil l iard table

,that I had marked down

as my goal . Quietly and slowly I raised myselfto peer over it

,and as quietly and S lowly up got

another face to look at me !I real ly don ’t know who was the more surprised

of the two,the l ion or I I fancy he must have

been in two minds whether to attack me or notas he proved to be dreadfully thin — or else

he really hadn ’t quite decided what strange beasti t was advancing quietly upon him .

At al l events, off he galloped with a “ wuff !

I had just time to turn the safety - catch of myMannlicher on

,get the sights al igned

,and pul l

the trigger,to see him upset behind a thick thorn

bush . I spied upon him from a safe distance andsaw he was hit in the neck

,and so was as good as

done for. I therefore signalled to the orderl iesto advance with al l spee d . By the way ,

the roanand tiang were nowhere to be seen from the

143

Lake Victoria to Khartoumbush . They must have spotted either the stalking l ion or myself and bolted . That is veryl ikely what had helped to put the l ion off hisstroke

,as far as I was concerned . The neck shot

never actually kills the animal on the spot,as was

proved again on this occasion ; but it rendershim completely nor s a

’o coméat.

I went up behind and gave him a prod in theneck with the rifle

,and he just managed to half

raise his head with a low growl,so I gave him an

extra one to finish him off. H e was a very bigl ion as regards size

,but a young one judging by

his teeth , and fearfully thin , poor brute . We laidhim out, skinned him on the spot

,took the skin

straight back to camp,pegged it outin the sun

,

and thoroughly dressed i t with dry wood ashes .I t 15 most necessary to take great pains witha l ion ’s skin

,particularly on the part where the

whiskers and mane grow,as the hair is more

l iable to come outthan in the case of any otheranimal , I think . The Claws also have to be carefully cleaned both inside and out .The story of the last day of my stay here atMeshra Zeraf is also interesting

,as yet another

l ion bi t the dust . This time I was taking roundtwo friends

,W. and P. , to try and Show them

a roan,as having spent a week here I considered

that I knew the best places in which to find them .

W . was on his honeymoon with his wife,shoot

ing hard as well,and P . had joined them for

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Lake Victoria to Khartoumwork on the mangled flesh and bone in her neckto see what we could find . All this time I wasperfectly certa in she was mine, and said so to theothers but as there was a doubt we had our huntfor the fatal bul let . A bent - up piece of nickelwas soon found , onwhich werewhat looked l ike thecuts of my spl i t bul let , so I rose to first favouritein the betting We could not find anything more

,

so we took home to camp to be washed andthoroughly searched a heap of torn flesh and bonewhich had by this time gotsmothered in dustand dirt. At lunch - time P . came to me and saidthat if a bullet was found inside with the letterH stamped on the base , i t would be his . Notto be outdone I hurriedly pulled one of mycartridges to bits , and found an “ H on the baseof mine also ! At last the fatal bul let turned upwith

,of course , the “ H ” clearly marked , and also

with the spl it— cuts faintly visible where it had notmushroomed. H owever, after a long discussionwe decided to ask W.

’

s wife to draw the name ofthe lucky owner ona sl ip of paper concealed in herhat. P . was the winner

,and

,although I shal l

cal l that l ioness mine til l my dying day,I am

heartily glad that he i s the owner of the skin ,both because I had shot one here before , and alsoas he had confided to me that to shoot a l ionwas the dream of his l i fe .

Uganda istoo much bushed up , and too denselycovered with forest and elephant grass over the

146

Liongreater part of i ts extent , to make it a good l ioncountry in general . From Fajao

, v ia Patiko,

Wadelai , and N imule, to Gondokoro , particularlythe latter part and east of i t, is about the pick of

the basket,and I dare say the open plains round

M ’barara in the south harbour a few l ions ; butthere are nothing l ike the numbers in Ugandathat there are al l over East Africa.I n the S udan there are l ions in the Game

Reserve on the east bank of the N ile,and in the

Sanctuary adjoin ing it , whilst down the Bahr- elZeraf they are very frequently seen on or nearthe banks of the river from the decks of thesteamers . An official on an I rrigation Department steamer , three hours in front of us up theBahr- el- Zeraf, saw two S itt ing on their haunchesl ike big cats

,and landed to shoot them , but had

no luck .

I f l ions are sa id to inhabit a distr ict , you wil lbe pract ical ly certain to meet them in the neighbourhood of large quantities of game , or wherethe flocks and herds are most numerous .

I 47

IX

ROAN ANTELOPEp p oTRAGUS EQUIN US BAKER]

SUDANESE NIELI

HAVE had several encounters with roanantelope

,both on my journey down the

N ile and on my way back again . Thesemight almost be registered under the head

ing “ Battles,

” since the an imal is very difficultto get at

,and is most tenacious of l i fe moreover,

i f one fires at the biggest animal in the herd inthe expectation that it wil l prove a bull

, one isvery apt to find oneself badly left with a specimenof the opposite sex . H ence it behoves the sportsman never to leave his glasses behind when outafter roan .

They are very large,upstanding antelopes

,and

look one stra ight in the face l ike gentlemen .

They have bright , red - roan coats, exceptionallylarge (for antelopes) , long, somewhat droopingears , with a small black tuft at the extremity, andthick , well - ringed horns sweeping backwards l ikea s ickle . They are met with in thin bush country,in company with another smaller buck or two ,surrounded by their harem of ten or twenty

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Lake Victoria to Khartoumtime at our disposal before the antelopes wouldappear from behind the l ine of bush whichseparated us from them. However

,I decl ined

to yield,for as their usual ly quick eyesight had

failed them and given us that advantage,I fel t i t

would be flying in the face of Providence toattempt another move.We had only a bare three minutes in which torecover our loss of breath when they turned up,with — as good luck would have it— the big buckwell in front , sloping along with his head hungdown

,seemingly tired of l i fe and "quite uncon

scious of ou r presence . From the sitting posturewe had assumed on arrival

,bang ! went my

friend ’s rifle , and down tumbled the buck plumbon the spot. The remainder of the herd stoodstupidly staring for a second or two whilst westrode up to photograph the an imal

,and gloat

over a fine head which would eventual ly adornhis baronial halls . This was fool ish behaviouron the part of the antelope

,as another bit the

dust before it occurred to them that we weredangerous , and that it was high time for them tomake themselves scarce .

I t ’s good business , you know,to successfully

circumvent a wily den izen of the jungle at h is owngame of woodcraft

,be he man or beast

,be he

ins ignificant of stature or the mightiest of animalsthat roams at pleasure— the monarch of al l hesurveys . There washigh revelry on the good

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A BU LL ROAN

A COW ROAN

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Lake Victoria to Khartoumborn brutes ; i t was probably a sort of mutualprotection society

,

My best head was only twenty -five inches ,which compares very unfavourably with the enormous heads that have been shot in the Sudan ;but very l ikely that was because it was not lateenough in the season for the big fellows to bedown near the N ile. I was the first in the fieldin 1908 , and lots of game I saw didn ’t mind thesteamer in the least. Later on,

when they havebeen shot at a l ittle

,they get dreadfully shy.

The roan antelope is found from Abyssinia toJ ebel Achmed Aga

,and thence south towards

Uganda .

I am doubtful whether the roan at Gondokorois the H E . oaé er i or r uppallia

’us . This may be

the local ity where the two races run into one

another .

152

WH ITE - EARED COB

COB US LE UCOTI S

SUDANESE AR IEL

WAStold I should meet him in very largequantities in the Sudan

,and this proved to

be the case .

H e is prepossessing to a degree . A fineold male

,standing up black and white amongst

his reddish harem,i s most conspicuous. And he

knowshow to Showhimsel f off. H i s black coatcontrasts well with his white bel ly

,the white spot

on his chest,and the large white eye patches ;

whilst the whiteness of the ears,which gives him

his name, causes them to appear larger than theyreal ly are. And then his heavily ringed horns ,with their graceful backward sweep

,hooked for

ward at the tips,give h im a very proudtouteu

semole,especial ly when you see him

,as I first did

,

in the early morning against a black burnt - upparter r e of C inders. H e stands with his headwell up as he looks at one ; not at al l in the aimless sort Of way in which a hartebeest seems tobe looking down his nose .

When his hide is pegged outto dry , a dist inctI S3

Lake Victoria to Khartoum

t inge of chestnut is v is ible where black meetswhite, and on th is account the skin is very striking, and wel l worth keeping.

The femal e reminds one at once of the impallahof East Africa, and I should say there is veryl ittle difference between her and the femaleUganda cob

,neither carrying any horns. Bar

ring his colour,this cob is practical ly the same

animal as the Uganda species,but is not met

with ti l l some five hundred miles further north of

where the range of this latter ends .White- eared cob are met with in herds of from

ten to forty perhaps ; in the latter case the bigbuck has usually from three to four younger onesto help him in keeping order amongst the moreunruly members . These other bucks wil l be verymuch l ighter in colour

,as it is only the very old

ones who are almost totally black on the back .

I should not give them credit for being um

usually cute, as on the two or three occasions Imade their close acquaintance I was able to getup fairly near. They seem to affect the proximityof water rather more than do the Uganda cob ,

and , I should say , must be hunted for near it .During my shooting trip on the N ile I came

across the white- cared cob at j ebel AchmetAgain the north

,where the Office rs

’ game reservestarts , thence al l the way up along the WhiteN ile to Lake NO on the left bank . On theBahr - el- Ze raf i t occurs in exceptionally large

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White — cared Cobquantities , but how far down the White N ile or

Bahr - el- J ebel it extends I could notascertain ,owing to the interminable sudd Swamps whichstretch on either hand beyond the power of

human vision .

Twenty - one to twenty - two inches is a fairaverage head .

X I

THE BAHR- EL-ZERAF

MADE the acquaintance of the Bahr - elZeraf in the good ship Snabluéa,

otherwiseknown as the “ greyhound of the Zeraf.She is a gunboat — a S tern -wheeler, as al l

the old- patterned boats are— and was first usedin the Old days in the various fights against theDervish hordes that took place further down theriver. She gets along to some purpose, al thoughat any moment she may begin to pant

,poor dear

thing, as if she was breathing her last gaspbefore going to the bottom .

Well,I was proceeding up the river after the

week spent in shooting at Meshra Zeraf— whichis on the ma in stream ,

and nowhere near theBahr - el- Zeraf— fol lowing hard after a letter of

introduction which had been despatched to herowner

,Mr. Struve, of the Sudan Civi l Service ,

asking him i f he could give me any assistance inthe shooting l ine

,and a trip on his boat i f he

happened to be paying a vis it to the Bahr - elZeraf. I had not heard whether he had receivedmy letter or not, so on rounding the bend of theN ile near Taufikia in the gunboat I had beenlent at Kodok , I was somewhat disconcerted to

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Lake Victoria to Khartoumfikia , we reach the Bahr- el- Zeraf, not a riveras i t appears to be, but the Cloaca Maxima, orma in dra in

,of the whole sudd district, flowing

north . This is the route that S ir Samuel Bakerpursued when he first steamed up to Gondokorothough what is known as “ Baker’s Passage ,”right up at the south end of the sudd

,where he

cut his way through , i s now sil ted up and chokedwith the dense masses that have formed longsince across it at i ts outlet into the White N ile .

This afli uentis about forty yards wide , with afair ish current . During our voyage on it wemuch enjoyed the splendid effect which the dyingglow of the sun

,the variegated tints of the

evening, and the pale l ight of the moon , producedon the dark water over which we gl ided underthe shadow of dark papyrus wal l s .We panted and puffed slowly but steadily upthe stream . Our plan was to steam up to thefirst wood stat ion , and whilst we took fuel on

board , I was to sal ly forth and Shoot . We hadn ’tovermuch time to cut to waste , as my host had tobe back on a certa in date , and I had my Gondokoro boat to catch .

I landed in a thorn forest , very dense and thick ,on the western bank , and after a Short trek cameacross waterbuck . By dint of a careful stalk(much peering between the tree trunks and underthe low spreading branches was necessary to distingu ishthe buck from amidst the herd of females) ,

158

The Bahr — el- Z eraf

I managed to secure an old buck with nicetwenty - nine - inch horns . Nothing out of the way

,

but a head worth keeping. Immediately afterwards I saw another, belonging to a differentherd , which was on the move , startled at thereport of my shot. H e was rather bigger thanthe first, I fancy, but I wasn ’t outto decimate thespecies , and I didn ’t want more than one unlessthe second should prove to be a whacker, ” so Ilet him off to fight another day.Shortly after this we started down stream .

The river scenery continued much l ike thatpreviously described . Wide stretches of floatingturf edged the papyrus growth . On the landgigantic primeval trees were so thickly interwovenwith cl imbing plants that they presented a frontof smooth fol iage. Without an axe i t is hard topenetrate these woods ; and they are haunted byl ions and leopards and beaut iful ly markedpythons .I n an hour or two the forest became thinner

,

al lowing of a V iew of herds of game— waterbuckchicfly— in the glades and clearings between themass of trees and the river. Then for ten milesor so

,as we dropped down stream , I have

seldom seen such a sight of animal l i fe, exceptingon the Athi pla ins in East Africa, from thecarriages of the Uganda rai lway. The bankswere fai rly stiff with waterbuck

,from the Old

veterans , scarred, and bearing the marks of manyI59

Lake ”Victoria to Khartouma fight on their shaggy coats

,to the l ittle tots j ust

able to stagger along for a fewyards . That regioncame a very good second to the Ath i plains

,but

in the latter you see heaps of different varieties .We were on the look out for tiang, of whichthere are numbers in this local i ty

,but none had

the decency to appear.Then after tea

,when the bush and forest land

came to an end, we entered the white - cared cob

country— a land of flat , grassy pla ins , with a t inybush here and there amidst the numerous redant - hills that break at intervals the smoothnessbetween the shal low, swampy é lcors that windinland from the r iver every mile or so .

The countryside was dotted with larger orsmaller herds of this beautiful antelope. Noneof them seemed to object in the least to the noiseof the steamer. They would even turn roundand stare at i t unconcernedly. They ’l l tel l you adifferent tale though as the shooting season drawsto a close ! When they have been continual lyshot at by part ies landing from every successivesteamer and boat , you won ’t see their heels fordust. And no blooming fools they !I managed to secure a real old one

,with a

beautiful black Skin , but the head was not worthkeeping, as he was so old that the horns had gotworn down and stumpy. I landed well belowhim at a suitable spot. H e allowed me to getqu i te close to him , going on feeding al l the time

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The Bahr - el— Z erafI was stalking him . When I thought hemust soon hear me and trot off, I emitted ashril l whistle which brought h is head up from thegrass he was grazing on

,and he stood long

enough for the Shot to take effect . H e was un

usual ly confiding, as the fact of the steamerhaving stopped so near usual ly startles a herdand puts it on the move.I t was nearly dark when we pulled up a second

time to enable me to get another shot from thebank

,so that in ten minutes I couldn ’t see the

foresight properly , with the result that I had togive it up after two or three shocking misses.After steaming on throughout the night

,we

woke up next morning to find,staring us in the

face five miles off eastwards,the three rocky hills

cal led J ebel Zeraf. We had made up our mindsto land and explore these hil ls in the hopes of

finding roan antelope round the base . I amcredibly informed that this is a good local i ty forbig roan ; but alas ! our hopes were dashed , and wewere doomed to disappointment . Two thingswe saw, however, were some ostriches and a herdof giraffe . We didn ’t want to harm them moreover, the latter are “

Off the l ist ” of animals thatcan be shot , being strictly preserved , so we letthem Iollop off into fancied security

,where they

stood swaying their great bulgy- looking necks toand fro for al l the world l ike the prehistoric peepsthey are .

161

Lake Victoria to KhartoumThe hil ls are a mass of piled -up granite boulders

,tenanted by large flocks of guinea - fowl ,

mill ions of bats,and an enormous warrena l i zard

— now,I fear

,no more ! I hit him very badly

indeed,and he lay stretched outfor dead , til l , such

is the vital i ty of these creatures , the noise of our

approaching footsteps — apparently— impelled himto seek refuge in a hole in the rocks

,from which

our united efforts , including those of two lustySudanese soldiers haul ing at his tail

,could not

dislodge him .

When on top of the hil l we became aware of

an extraordinary squeaking sound,and after

poking about nearly fel l into a wide crevice inthe rocks in which bats were packed like sardines .The place looked like a game larder after a bigéattue. I t was l iterally stuffed with bats ; hanging on by their eyel ids to the roughnesses andirregularit ies of the rock . A stone thrown downsent them al l off in a cloud , l ike so many locusts ,st irring up quite a breeze with their flutteringwings . They were soon driven back to theirrocky fastness by force of circumstances in theshape of countless wheel ing kites and hawks .I t ’s an il l wind , etc . ; the latter doubtless had agood meal that day.

Back to ou r float ing haven of refuge we tramped,

unsuccessful as regards our shoot , across theparti - coloured plain

,now green , now black , ac

cording as the grass had been burnt or not,

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Lake Vic toria to Khartoum

right, as neither horn nor hoof did we seteyeson ; in fact , she was notat home !The buck i s sa id to be about the same sizeas the white - cared cob, but has not so manywhite markings about him ; he has , nevertheless ,a large white spot on the top of his withers . H epossesses very long spreading horns

,which he

carries right down on'his back when he bounds

away in alarm ; his nose in consequence sticks uphigh in the a ir.I t i s said that there is no known difference in

appearance and colouring between the femaleMrs . Gray and the female white - eared cob. Butth is statement needs confirmation .

Since only one specimen of Mrs . Gray ’s waterbuck is allowed to be shot on one l icence , and astherefore everybody natural ly shoots a buck forhis superb trophy; surely, in the interests ofscience

,someone should be given permiss ion

to shoot two as a special case— a doe as wellas a buck— outof til e same nera’, so as topreventconfusion,

in order to have the female properlydescribed . Often and often , when the herd iss ighted

,the buck will be lying down , as is the

custom with al l varieties of cobus, and it is onlythe femal e one sees to judge by. N0 one whomI have approached on the subject— and someOf those I have asked ought to know— candifferentiate between the two does except to saythat of the two Mrs . Gray’s waterbuck has less

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The Bahr — el— Z eraf

hai r near the hoof but as that part of the animalcannot be distinguished

,even with the a id of

glasses , in the grass , the al leged difference doesn ’thelp one much . I am also led to bel ieve thatin every herd there are loads of femal es to one orperhaps two males

,so that possibly at least three

responsibl e people might be accorded the necessarypermiss ion to Shoot a doe apiece .

Well,we travelled up and down Lake No in

the blazing sunshine,seated on the roof of my

friend ’s gunboat in order to atta in a great enoughelevat ion to see over the reeds , regardless ofsparks and smuts from the poor panting funnel

,

with ou r eyes glued to our glasses ; whilst everynow and then the remark “ By Gad ! or something stronger

,to wit , “ Great Scott ! ” would

give an outlet to ou r feel ings on discovering twoor three red does standing up in the grass , sundried or burnt by prairie fires

,as the case

might be.Then would come the agonized question ,Where can we land ! I n this part of theworld all is swamp and muck

,and it is only very

occasional ly indeed that a “ meshra ”

or landingplace on firm , black - cotton soil can be found .

These “ meshras are l ike oases in the desert.Even after landing at one of them ,

there arecerta in to be at least hal f a dozen khors — wetwatercourses , the water in most of them wa istdeep— to be negotiated

,before one comes wi thin

165

Lake Victoria to Khartoumconvenient stalking distance of the supposedMrs. Gray, which , nor r ioile a

’ictu , in ou r case,

invariably turned out to be femal e wh ite - earedcob .

Rel igiously we sat on the roof throughout thel ivelong day

,and as rel igiously disappeared in a

cloud of black dust in pursuit, but we were alwaysdoomed to disappointment .Now the real reason of my lack of success

was this ! my attempt was made much too earlyin the year. I am told that th is species of waterbuck does not come down to the N ile til l al l thewater inland is dried up

— that is to say, aboutApril . H ence the futi l i ty of any search on theriver bank in the second week in J anuary.

This being SO,I beg to acquit the hon . mem

ber,without a sta in on his unflagging energies ,

from the charge that one part of his excellentprogramme didn ’t come Off

,owing

,let i t be

supposed,to the “ pubs with drink to be con

sumed on the premises being Open elsewhere !O therwise his entertainment was up to concertpitch , and on al l other points I am prepared topra ise i t sky - high in unmeasured terms .I ’m afra id my tales have rather left their sheep

behind them, or the other way on , but I really

know very l i ttle about the fickle jade , as I amdisposed to call the animal in question

,except

that the non - attainment of my object gives meadditional zest to revisi t that part of the Sudan .

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Lake Victoria to Khartoumahead Of her time, and it was sheer good luckmy catching her . I f I hadn ’t I Should have beena month late— not through my fault , i t i s tru ebut what would the powers that be have said on

my return ! Thus i t came to pass that I left theS/zaoluéa in as great a hurry as I embarked onher.I had a “top-hole t ime in the ship

,and I ’l l

board her again as soon as her owner is kindenough to ask me . I hope that on some futureoccasion we shall have the good luck to carrythrough ou r original scheme devised for the un

doing of a Mrs . Gray ’s waterbuck .

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x11

T IANG

DAMALI S CUS TIANG

SUDAN BURE

H I S is an almost exact counterpart ofmy Old friend the topi of East Africanfame The topi is also to be foundin Uganda in certain districts

,so that

where the topi proper merges into the tiang of

lat itude ten degrees on the White N ile I do notknow .

The tiang is red - fawn in colour with purpl ishbrindles and patches on the fore - arm and thighs .I t is very closely related to the hartebeest ,having the same ungainly appearance and thesame long face . The horns are lyre - Shaped andheavily ringed

,and the head is b igger than that

of the topi,over twenty - three inches being only

sl ightly above the general average .

Of al l the animals difficult of approach , froma stalking point of view

,that I have met I think

the tiang easily “ takes the cake . The first herdof tiang that I saw numbered about forty indiv iduals , and though I squirmed about throughburnt grass , getting practical ly coal - black al l over

169

Lake Victoria to Khartoumfor my pains , nota S ign of them did I see whenI first dared to look up from the cover of a bushsome two hundred yards distant from where theyhad been feeding. They had apparently disappeared into thin a i r. My orderl ies knew mewell enough to keep out of s ight

,so it couldn ’t

have been their fault .The next tiang I saw was a S ingleton

,more than

three - quarters of a mile away . I thought i t wasno use beginning to stalk before I had reacheda good patch of bush another four hundred yardson

, as i t was only with the a id of glasses that Ihad made him out at al l

,Imagine my disgust

when after moving only twenty yards — ratheracross him I admit— he bolted l ike a shot ; Inever set eyes on him again that day. This putme so much on my mettle to secure a specimenthat I gave up all idea of buffalo , with which theplace crawled , as I had shot them before elsewhere

,and devoted all my time and energies to

tiang. I was doomed to disappointment there ,and departed much incensed against the wilybeast

,and vowing vengeance against any of his

clan that I might meet in the hereafter . How

ever,a kindly fate served me later .

Tiang are wilder in the Sudan than theircousins in Uganda because there is less cover inthe former than in the bush land of the lattercountry . But to whatever branch of the genusthey may belong

,a herd of tiang never settle

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X I I I

BUSHBUCK

TRACELAPE US S CRIP TUS B OR

TEAGE LAPHUS S CRI P TUS DE CULA

SUDANESE ABENABER

B AR I ! CABO

OR a long time I bel ieved that the bushbuck was COnfined to the hil ls . So heis to a great extent, but by no meansentirely.

Let me now relate how I stole a march on mycompanions on my return journey up the N ile toUganda. We arranged one evening to stop andshoot next day at Game iz a

,where we were going

to take wood onboard . Next morning I woke upto find that the boat had stopped

,and on seeing

my companions fast asleep,I quietly hurried on

my clothes and sl ipped offto get ahead of themas some four or five people tramping round thecountryside

,loosing off right and left , spel ls no

sport for anyone .

Imagine my surprise when the skipper saidwe were just off for Game iz a

,that the place

where we then were was notGame iz a, as I had

thought,but Mal ik Bor, a mission station . Not

1 7 2

Bushbuckto be outdone

,I remarked

,with a wink

,that the

captain hadn ’t seen me,and without more ado

bolted for the jungle . The result was a n icebushbuck

,and on my return fiendish and awful

curses from the others , who I knew couldn ’tcontinue the journey til l I had boarded the boatagain .

Now this took place in absolutely flat countrywith not a vestige of a mound , leave alone ahil l ; and yet the place teemed with bushbuck ,as was conclusively proved by my seeing twobucks and five does in the short two hours I wasoutthat morning. We started on flat

,sun - dried

ground with not a vestige of grass , threading ourway across country in and between the thornbushes . A short way from the river - bank

,where

the grass was thicker,we saw and let off a herd

of waterbuck with a small head in it. Then ,half a mile or so further on

,I fel t a violent poke

in the back ; on looking round I found myorderly

,as st iff as a ramrod , slowly handing me

my rifle,staring fixedly into the grass . I t might

have been an elephant,judging by the look on his

face , but then he knew I was especial ly anxiousto get a bushbuck . I t was no good

,however

,

as the bushbuck was off l ike a flash , havingspotted us long before I was ready. A shortdistance further and it was time to return to thesteamer

,so sweeping round towards the N ile we

Shaped our course for home . Then we tumbledI 7S

Lake Victoria to Khartoumin amongst the bushbuck . First two does fedacross our front , but they had evidently left theirmate asleep in a bush as we saw no signs of

him ; then three does appeared with the buck feeding towards us in their rear. When he was closeenough I let h im have it , but h it h im rather farback as he leapt into the air and sprang behinda thicket

,whilst the others stood stil l and stared

about , evidently with not the sl ightest knowledgeof my whereabouts . A sudden report followedby dead S i lence often produces this effect ; i t is ,therefore

,always highly advisable to sit t ight

after a shot to seehow the land l ies beforemoving from one ’s place of concealment. I nthis case

,the buck was sti l l behind his bush ; so , in

order to try and get the does quietly away withoutalarming him , we whistled two or three times .When they had disappeared I advanced upon thehidden animal

,who sprang up from where he

had been lying in the bush,badly hi t

,and gave

me an easy shot at close quarters .Very pretty, striking l i ttle beasts are these

yel lowish red to quite dark red in colour,with

white string-marks running vertical ly and horizontal ly along their forequarters and ribs , spottedover the lo ins and behind . They vary tremen

dously both in their colour and in their markings .They have a curious kind of mane all down theback

,darker than the remainder of the coat , and

their hindquarters are quite shaggy in appearI 74

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Lake Victoria to Khartoumeach with his couple of does as usual

,which in

both cases were practical ly of the same hue,

much lighter than that of their lords and masters .Bushbuck are most wary and difficult of

approach , and one has to keep one ’s eyes wel lskinned and remarkably wide open to circumventthe brutes . I t is a very good thing when one isin good bushbuck country to carry a rifle one

self continual ly,as many a shot can be obtained

between the bushes and grass,that is notpossible

when one has to snatch the rifle outof the gunbearer’s hands .A very good plan when outafter bushbuck in

hil ly country about 9 a .m . , i s to walk quietly alonground the hil l at a height of about two or threehundred feet above the plain

,and at the same

time to send a man , alongtnepla in éelowy ou , j ustattltefootof thema, to make, nota fearf u l row,

outa gooa’ clatter . Bushbuck alway s run uphil lat a tremendous pace , so you wil l have the doublechance of seeing what is round you , and havingthose in the grass at the bottom driven up toyou ,

and your quarry will most probably belurking in the grass .I f you see a bushbuck and make up your

mind to stalk him , take every care and be sureto finish your stalk wel l out. Only yesterdayI made the Old mistake of notdoing this

,because

two young waterbuck got up notten yards fromwhere I had marked the bushbuck down . I

1 76

Bushbuckmade certa in the latter wouldn ’t be there as thewaterbuck went off with a crash and a rush ; soI stopped and shouted for my orderly ,

whom Ihad left some way behind , and , in fact , madethe deuce of a row, before proceeding to walkabout to see i f there were any signs of the bushbuck disappearing. Quite five minutes after theman had arrived

,while we were discussing what

to do next,the bushbuck bolted outof the very

bush he had original ly been standing near,and

beside which we had been sitting down talking.

I lost him,as I had laid my rifle down on the

ground , and had my glasses out . Bushbuck arevery shy and timid indeed , and probably that onehad been so frightened at my sudden and closeapproach , that he had lain “ doggohin thebush , sweating blood with funk.

There is,of course

,in forest country the Old

game of going outin the evening for an hour orso ,and sitting down quietly to admire nature

,as

well as to wait for a bushbuck to come along,

but that has been described elsewhere.Quite recently a friend of mine returned toBombo

,the head - quarters of the K ing ’s African

R ifles,near Kampala in Uganda

,with his

company from detachment,in the Hoima district

,

bringing in with him,amongst other trophies

,the

heads of three bushbuck which he had shot.Their horns are al l abnormally thick , and all of auniform length— more or less— over 1 7

4; inches .N 1 77

Lake Victoria to KhartoumTwo of these bushbuck were shot on theescarpment overhanging Lake Albert near aplace cal led Tonio

,and the other at another

place some sixty miles away nearer Bombo , onthe banks of the Myanja river. Their skins arevery l ight in colour , with the string-marks scarcelyshowing. Are they the ear of the N ile

,or the

“a’ecu la of Abyssinia ! Or is i t that the good

feeding that they obtain in this part of the worldenables them to develop finer ‘horns

,even as the

well — fed Unyoro elephant carries more mass ivetusks than the elephant found in the vicinityof the Semliki river ! But the question is ,What are they ! I n either case my friend has gotsome records , as I never saw such massive heads ,but i t does not seem possible to class them undereither sub- species . And there are plenty morein those districts waiting to be shot by theintending V is itor !I appe nd a photograph of the heads and skins

of two of these big fel lows , shown against a29

- inch white rhino horn,to give an idea of

then length and thickness also a photograph ofbushbuck I Shot at Bor on the N ile.

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BACK TO UGANDA

FTER leaving Bor,where I had landed

and kept everybody waiting whilst inpursu it of a bushbuck

,as before de

scribed , the post boat continued itsweary way southwards towards Uganda . Atintervals a few thorn trees reared their spinystems from behind the matted bank of reeds andbulrush , entwined with purple convolvulus thatfringed the river as it turned and twisted in thislow - lying country.

J ust before rounding a certa in bend , we hadbeen warned by the engineer to keep a sharplook out, as some sandbanks in front of us were afavourite haunt of hippos , a spot on which theyused to bask in the noonday sun . Sure enoughwe came upon a large herd

,Old and young of al l

ages , lying about well out of the water , warmingthemselves on a sandbank on one s ide of theriver. Some thirty yards further away was anothers imilarly s ituated sandbank tenanted by dozensof crocodiles

,al so performing the same species of

hard labour. The latter were the first to takealarm , as some were hal f in and hal f out of thewater— sleeping, as usual , with one eye open— andthus the beat of the big wheel was conducted to

I 79

Lake Victoria to Khartoumthem by the V ibrat ion of the water. They sl idquietly into the l iquid element. The hippos didnot take alarm til l some seconds later when theydid the surface of the water was suddenly transformed from a plac id even plane to waves andspray by the rushing shapes and unwieldy bulkof these enormous creatures . Before dashingpel l -mell into the depths of the pool , one or two ofthe younger ones paused to stare open -mouthedat our dreadful apparition . One hippo came upoutof the water a mere yard from the bows of theboat , s inking again so hurriedly in his dismay atbeing nearly run down , that he must almost havebeen choked.

That day was ful l of incident . H erds ofantelope were seen on either bank, as the grassand river growth had been burnt in places or hadrotted away til l i t was quite short .An hour or so further on, a sudden trumpet of

alarm caused a rush to the side of the vessel,

whence we saw a herd Of six elephants tearingalong in front . The breeze was from behind us ,so our smoke was blown amongst them . Theykept along the bank for some four miles

,always

just ahead of us,going at a very fast shamble,

crashing through the high grass and bushes as ifthey weren’t there to impede their progress . Whythe herd didn ’t make off into the depths of thejungle was not evident . Perhaps to do so wasimpossible owing to swamps and mud ; but at

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Lake Victoria to Khartoumnat ives— chiefly by the latter. Through theashes the fresh young shoots were al readymaking their way. Outcrops of rocky graniteridges were very frequent . The N ile wasnever more than a mile or so distant from ournarrow track

,cal led by courtesy a road , and

the Uganda bank for the most part is heavilycultivated

,in great contrast to the Congo

bank . I did not see a head of game for somefifteen miles , but food there was in plenty, bothfor master and for man . Guinea - fowl as well aspartridges formed the pieces a

’e r esistance for the

dinner - table ; and there were lots of fresh eggsand lashings of milk for breakfast. The nat ivesal l along here are most kind and hospitable

,

always bringing what one wants , often withoutbeing asked to do so . And they congregatedround the camp fires of an evening glad to hearthe news from the outside world .

We left Rejaf hil l behind on the left bankand camped on the K i t river

,usual ly a great

resort of game at this season but owing to manybrother offi cers from Gondokoro having spent afew days ’ l eave Shooting in the neighbourhood

,

most of the animals had disappeared in favour ofa quieter haunt.As we advanced the character of the country

began to al ter. More bushes and more treesappeared the ridges showed signs of developinginto hil ls , and then the blue misty outl ines ofmoun

1 82

Back to Ugandatains became fa intly V is ible far away southwards .I n hush of the evening we heard a frequent murmur Of waters which meant shal lows on the river,i f not rapids . An oribi or two formed awelcome

addition to the larder. We passed several v i llageson either side of the path , al l looking fai rly prosperous , surrounded as they were by their greenpatches of cultivation . We pitched our campnear one of these in a beautiful spot

,where a fine

khor fringed with tropical vegetation flows alongthe bottom Of a wide meadow - l ike clearing,covered with short succulent grass and adornedwith handsome colossal fig- trees

,tamarinds

,and

dule il palms . Close beside the vil lage,which

nestles among the crags,there is a rocky ridge.

Bananas are scarce here ; evidently the soildoes not suit them . Tobacco

,however

,s imsim ,

and even a l i ttle cotton are grown . A fat oldman, named Kursi , i s the paramount ch ief of thisdistrict , and he almost fel l over himsel f in h isfrantic endeavours to Show us hospital i ty.

One of our marches was remarkable for anawkward though ludicrous contretemps . Themarch had not been a long one

,nor was there

much water on the road,so I expected the

porters to arrive very shortly after I did . Whenwe had been some t ime at the hal ting- place withouttheir putting in an appearance , I began towonder what had happened. At last a manarrived with his box on his head , and on being

1 83

Lake Victoria to Khartoum

questioned repl ied in a monosyllable, “ Nyuki(bees). This explained the whole thing, andsoon a disorganized and demoral ized mob shuffledinto camp in twos and threes. Eyes werebunged up

,noses twice their usual s ize, and

l ips thickened to an appal l ing degree even fora negro

,and the possessors of the swollen organs

were al l in a beastly bad temper. Their storywas that a large swarm of bees had been annoyedby the s inging of the porters (they often chantin chorus to beguile the march) and had descended upon them tooth and na i l , going straightfor the faces of the men , who, without a moment ’shesitation

,threw their boxes to the ground and

bounded off into the long grass and thence intothe river. Then the bees

,nothaving taken

the trouble to pursue them very far, proceeded toswarm al l over the abandoned loads

,so that,

on anyone approaching them ,the insects were

up in arms again and ready for another engagement. No one knew what to do , t i l l a manwho had been in these parts before advocatedan attack with fire . Armed with burning bundlesof dried grass the porters made a determinedcharge on the winged pests , with the result thatthe insect army was completely defeated withheavy loss. I have heard of two other exactly s imilar cases in which bees took charge of the loadsand could only be beaten off with fire. Bees areexceedingly bad tempered if routed outof theirnests , and very persistent in their attacks .

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Back to UgandaThe longest march on this road is to K enyi

’

s

from the north. The road rises and fal ls throughrocky grass country very much cut up by rockyravines with pools of water in them . The trackhere keeps on an average about two miles distantfrom the N ile , and we camped some four milesfrom Bageri H i l l , which was to the east andbetween us and our old road.

Thence onwards the road is stil l good,but

goes up and down over a rugged country,in which

stony ground al ternates with cultivation . Theredoes not seem to be very much to shoot in thisdistrict t i l l one reaches the neighbourhood of theK arpetta river. Taking a strol l along the prec ipitous sandy banks of th is stream , I camesuddenly on a beauti ful leopard

,s itt ing up l ike

a cat on his haunches , bl inking at the sun . Justat that moment

,however

,a flock of guinea - fowl

took it into their heads to fly away with a tremendous clatter. This signal naturally attractedthe leopard ’s attention , and he was off before Icould get a shot at him .

The hills and mounta ins now began to makethemselves very much more en e

’

via’ence, i f not

actual ly felt , as the road became steeper and morehil ly. Polki H i l l lay to our left , and the dome - l ikecrest of Akiko Mountain loomed in front , wherethe N ile rages and roars in the chasm between i tand the great Congo escarpment . As on theprevious march

,the path wound about dreadfully ,

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Lake Victoria to Khartoumbeing apparently the high road for al l the vil lagesin this part of the world, in that it seems to passthrough most of them . At any rate , at the endof the day’s march we had been go ing a longtime and felt fairly t ired

,but we did not seem to

have got very much “ forrarder,

” judging by thebearings of the various landmarks, but we haddescended from the rather higher ground three orfour miles eastward of the N ile to where the Umariver runs into i t. H ere I spent two quite goodsporting days wa it ing for news of elephant , which,alas ! never came. I managed to secure a nicehippo on the first day

,and saw him cut up and

safely in camp,which was satisfactory, as so

many drift down the rapids and get lost . Themorning after two oribi and a good waterbuckwith a 3 3 - inch head were bagged .

The country on the Uganda S ide of the riverwas inhabited years ago by a race of men whol ived in s quare stone houses and cultivated theland largely

,judging by remains of their gardens ,

which were buil t for miles along the slopelooking over the river

,and in al l the steeper

parts formed terraces l ike the hil l cult ivation inI ndia. The chiefs in these parts are very nice,hospitable Old men , k inder than ever when theyare st imulated with thoughts of hippo meat !The mounta ins on either hand now began todraw nearer to each other, ti ll i t looked as thoughto pass between them would be impossible. The

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Back to Ugandariver grew more and more tumultuous ; the pathbecame rugged and broken , winding in and outamongst the rocks and boulders

,between the

bushes and high grass,now up the steep side

Of a hill , now along the ridge joining this offshootto the main range overlooking the river, evermounting higher til l we found ourselves on thetop of Akiko Mountain . This bold rock , whichstands some two thousand feet above the N ilebed

,breasts the driving wind and seems to

command the storm . The rushing clouds hal tin their mad course upon its crest

,and curl in

sullen impotence around its craggy summits .The deep ravine , at the bottom of which theriver foams and bo i ls , formed by the Aronz i

Mountains , is fi l led with the vanquished mistwhich s inks powerless in its dark gorge ; andthe bright sun , Shining from the east, spreads aperpetual ra inbow upon the gauze - l ike cloud offog which settles in the deep hollow.

We spent one night on Akiko, sheltered in aquiet corner which looked as if i t had been madeexpressly for my tent

,and from which the V iew

was glorious . I sank to sleep,but, being at a

higher al t itude than usual,I kept on waking up,

t il l at last I dressed and set forth to see the sunrise from the crest.For a few moments al l sounds seem to have

sunk to rest,t i l l the distant

,grating roar of a be

lated l ion warns the weary porter whose duty it i s1 87

Lake Victoria to Khartoumto keep the embers of the watch - fire going ; hepiles fresh wood upon them

,and the bright blaze

shoots up amongst the trees,and throws a dull ,

ruddy glow on to the bare rocks . Morning comesat length

,ushered in before night has yet departed ,

by the strong shril l cry of the great fish eagle ashe S i ts on the topmost bough of some forest tree ,and

,at measured periods

,repeats his quivering

and unearthly yell,l ike an evil spiri t cal l ing.

A more cheering sound charms the ear as thegrey tints of the morning make the stars growpale ! clear rich notes

,now prolonged and full ,

now plaintive and low,set the example to the

other singing birds,as the bulbul , first to awake ,

procla ims the morning. The birds indulge inwild jungle - bred songs

,charming in their quaint

ness,not l ike those of our humdrum thrushes in

old England .

The jungle partridge wakes up,and with his

loud cry subdues all other sounds . And now thedistant hil l - tops far below struggle through thesnowy sheet of mist

,l ike islands in a fairy sea

a solemnly beautiful scene ; the dewdrops fal lheavily from the trees as the l ight breeze st irsthem from an apparent sleep ; a golden tintspreads over the sea of mist below ; the sun ’srays dart l ightning - l ike from the eastern sky themightyorb rises in al l the fullness of his majesty, recall ing the Almighty ’s words

,

“ Let there be l ightThe sun has risen ! The mighty sea below

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Lake Victoria to KhartoumI found that I was to travel in company withfriends once more— a great rel ief to the monotony of the journey— as Capta in Edwards , theInspector-General of Pol ice

,accompanied by Mrs .

Edwards,

“ blew in from the annual inspectionof his men in the north . The small steam - launchwould be somewhat crowded

,and an extra man

would doubtless somewhat inconvenience a ladyin the cramped accommodation at our disposal ;but we were great friends and looked forward toa most cheery time . Captain Edwards was ful lof disgust with himself, as he had come acrosselephants on his trek , had hit a magnificenttusker, and had pursued it through swamps andj ungle for two days from early morn til l dewy eve ,only to track it up into unfriendly country wherethe ch ief was a well —known ivory thief and hadrefused to a id him in its further pursuit . Whatannoyedhim most , however, was that , just beforeembarking on the steam - launch

,a man came in ,

hot foot, with the news that this hoary Old robberhad actual ly “ col lected ” the tusks and hadrefused

,point - blank

,to give them up to the

Government. This was adding insult to injury,but there was nothing for it but to journey onwithout them . That evening— the first out fromN imule— we tied up and landed at the Olddeserted Belgian station Of Dufile . We foundthe paths overgrown with grass and weeds . Ofthe houses , made of brick and thatched with

I90

Back to Ugandastraw , only a few of the wal ls were standing

,

whilst al l the roofs and the greater part of theverandahs had fal len in . All had gone to rackand ruin ; al l was total ly destroyed. The fewfruit trees , planted and tended by the devotedhands of Emin and his Officers , remain in atangled wilderness by the river bank . Thebeautiful avenue of l ime trees and date palmshas been defaced by the destruction of manyboughs

,wh i le the ground beneath is l iteral ly

smothered inflowers that have seeded themselves- year in and year out— and gone wild in theprocess .We steamed on al l through that n ight so as toarrive by daybreak at a favourite wood stat ion ,where we wished to put in a few hours ’ shootingwhilst the sa i lors cut fuel . A three -mile walkbrought us to some beautiful rol l ing downs studdedwith a bush here and there and a scanty sprinkl ingof trees . Underfoot it was l ike an English hayfield. E lephants were known to be plentiful here ,so we were not surprised to come across their oldtracks . I n the morning we saw nothing moreexciting than hartebeest and oribi , which we leftto try conclusions with on our return . And itwas well we did . When we sat down to investigatethe contents of the lunch basket , we found that i thad not arrived . Presently one of the men we hadleft in charge of it rushed up and informed usthathe was sorry he was late , but that he andhis

191

Lake Victoria to Khartoumcompanionshad been delayed by being cut off bya large herd of elephants . This was great news

,

and we retraced our steps in search of them . Theanimals

,nothaving been disturbed , had passed on

quietly feeding. The large herd, however, turnedoutto consist of a dozen— as we expected. Theredid not appear to be a big bull amongst them

,so

we sat down to lunch , keeping our glasses directedon them from the high pos it ion we occupied . I twas most interesting to watch them some threehundred yards away, packed together under ashady tree with thei r heads inwards facing thetree - trunk. Now and again there was a suddensl ight disturbance as i f one had kicked anotherby mistake then one would turn round and Showhis head and great ears flapping to and fro . Afterlunch

,before leaving them altogether, we deter

mined to go and make a closer inspection , in caseone of the two bulls , which stood up much higherthan the cows

, Should prove to have larger tusksthan we supposed . I t is most curious how closeone can get to a herd of elephants sleeping likethis

,even though one i s right outin the open

without a vestige of cover,providedone approachesthe herd in such a way that the wind blows fromit to oneself. We crossed and recrossed theirfront

,and on finding there was nothing worth

having,came to the conclusion that it would be

best to make tracks for the river once more .

On the way we met a hartebeest . My friend192

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Lake Victoria to Khartoumof time before he acquires a fa i r knowledge of thehabits of the different species met with in whatever shooting country he may be . What a manlearns in one country is natural ly of the greatestuse to him elsewhere There is a story of awell - known big - game shot, fresh from the Africanwilds, who was invited to a friend ’s deer forest inS cotland which was celebrated for its quantitiesof beautiful heads . On the first shooting morningthe host was somewhat surprised at his guest ’s nonappearance at the breakfast table, and when themeal was nearly finished sent the butler up to hisroom to remind the laggard that everybody wasalmost ready to start. The guest was nowhereto be found. Imagine their horror on emergingfrom the dining - room to find the sportsmansmil ing and exultant on the doorstep with twoSplendid heads ! Of course, he had risen withthe lark . H e had always done it in Africa, andremarked that i t was the best time of the day .

Oh,no he hadn’t wanted gill ies— hated the sight

of them— he was accustomed to do his own stalking. Natural ly he supposed that h is host and theother guests were out early in some other direction ,as their l ines had been thoroughly explained overnight but he had thought it Odd that no one hadwakened h im from his slumbers . The host wasreal ly angry

,and did not issue another invitat ion

to that sportsman .

L ittle of moment occurred on our voyage to194

Back to UgandaButiaba . We steamed along past the woodedmountains and the forest - clad hil ls , past thepapyrus banks and lagoons , running agroundnowand again , cursing at the delays and gettingdragged off at last . I n that part of the riveri t is scarcely possible to avoid the shoals of weedsand mud. F irst the weeds collect until theyform a dense spongy mass which stretches acrossthe river and acts as a fi lter. Then as the water

,

charged with muddy particles , arrives at th isnatural dam where the stream is suddenly checked

,

i t deposits al l impurit ies as i t oozes and percolatesslowly through the tangled but compressed massof vegetation . This deposit quickly creates mudbanks and shoals , which effectual ly block theoriginal bed of the river.The plant wh ich enters most largely into thecomposi tion of the sudd blocks is the P istiastratiotes. This resembles a smal l floating cabbage

,with fine thready roots l ike a human beard

,

some S ixteen inches in length . The pistias oftenform dense masses wh i ch are very difficul t toclear. Merrily they bob along the surface of theriver in batches Of twos and threes , or of severalhundreds , t il l they get broken up in the rapids ,or entangle themselves in a bank of reeds, andseed themselves there.An uneventful passage brought us up at anchorin the land - locked harbour of Butiaba at the footof the lofty escarpment that hems in the eastern

I9S

Lake Victoria to Khartoumshore of Lake Albert . This strip of low - lyingland between the mountain and the tempestuouswaters of the lake is a grand shooting ground .

One may confidently expect to meet severalvarieties of big game for a hundred miles southof Butiaba right down to the Seml iki river

,and

animals with good heads into the bargain , as fewpeople come to these comparatively unknownparts in search of game. There are not manyinhabitants , so that flour and sweet potatoes areat a premium , but one can depend on fish to alarge extent to supply one’s entourage with food .

From here to Mas indi is two days’ marchthrough one of the great primeval forests whichextend in al l directions in these parts . An oak

i s a mere pigmy beside the giants of these wilds .Often did we stop to admire the prodigiousheight and girth of these trees . Their beautifulproportions render them the more striking ; thereare no rough knobby stems such as we are accustomed to see in the ancient oaks and elms of

England . Every trunk rises from the earth l ikea mast, perfectly free from branches for a hundredfeet or so, stra ight as a dart , forming a greypillar to support its share of the rich canopyabove, which constitutes a roof perfectly im

pervious to the sun. I t is difficult to guess theactual height of these trees , but I should saythat Often as not one would miss with a gun abird on the topmost branches . From age to age

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Back to Ugandathese magnificent trees rema in in their undisturbedsol itudes, gradual ly increas ing in thei r endlessgrowth

,and towering above the dark vistas of

everlasting si lence.N0 one can imagine the utter sti l lness which

reigns in these depths . I n the shades of the forestI have often stood and l istened for some sound ,but always in va in not a chirp of a bird , nor thehum of an insect is heard. The mouth of natureis sealed . The perpetual verdure and the freshnessof each tree create an idea of eternal vegetation

,

and the S i lvery dim l ight adds to the charm of

the enchanted lonel iness. Creepers of the thickness of a man ’s thigh l ie snakel ike along theground, and then rearing their twisted forms onhigh , cl imb the loftiest trees , and hang infestoons from stem to stem

,l ike the cables of an

old- time battleship . Each festoon extends fromtree to tree for many hundred yards now fal l ingto the earth and striking a fresh root

,then with

increased energy remounting the highest trunksand forming a labyrinth of twisted webbingamong the ceil ing of the forest .A curious and l i ttle - known animal inhabitsthese dusky silences . The natives cal l himthe Intallaganya,

a long crack —jaw name phonetically spelt . I have never met a man whohas seen a specimen al ive

,much less who

has shot one,though the spec ies seems to exist

in fai r quantit ies,i f one may judge by the

I97

Lake Victoria to Khartoumlarge number of skins it is possible to acquire bybarter from the natives . The skins are verysmall

,about as large as those of the dik - dik ; a

mouse - coloured fawn in appearance with extremelysilky ha i r. Both sexes are said to be hornless .Intallaganyas are numerous in this district , andthere are a few to be found in those dense sol itudes on the banks of the Seml iki nestl ing underthe shadow of Ruenz ori . The nat ives are saidto organize large drives for them

,and to catch

them in long nets spread from tree to tree throughthe undergrowth to entangle them . One never seesa shot mark on the skins

,which are usually Obta ined

sewn together in the form of karosses . Theseare much prized and command a very good price .

My view of the forest was considerably marredby a dose of fever

,brought on in al l probabil i ty

by long marches in the sun and continual wettingsbut the kindly attentions of Mr. Anderson , whodispensed lavish hospital i ty at Masindi , sooncounteracted the effects . A sl ight “ divars ion

”

here,caused by an elephant hunt , took us a short

distance out of our way. There was news of twobulls ; great big ones ! We trekked and

,to

cut a long story short , came upon the poolwhere they had drunk the previous night . Thejungle was desperately thick

,so one of my men ,

armed with a rifle,marched well ahead with the

nat ive who had been responsible for the tidings .Soon we heard an interm ittent crashing as of

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Back to Ugandaelephants sleepily feeding and breaking down thebranches at intervals . This sound we located asproceeding from a dense clump of tall trees .Making a long detour to try and get the windright, and at the same time reach , with as l ittlenoise as possible, the place through the densethickets that surrounded it

,we advanced upon

the position . On our left was a dense , impenetrahle mass of thorny tangle

,and on ou r right a

high impervious growth of reeds,tal l enough to

conceal the biggest elephant that ever existed .

The tree was on our right front . The windcame from our left front . We movedsteal th ily forward . A bark in the reeds told usthat a bushbuck had got our wind . We prayedthat the elephants would nothear that , and thatour good luck wil l keep our end up ! I f theanimals were actually under the tree , well andgood ; i f in the reeds, look out for By Gad !a crash resounded five yards away in the reeds ,which bent and swayed violently to and fro, andbehaved as if they were quite mad. There wasa sudden stampede

,but by the greatest of good

luck the frightened monsters didn ’t break coverour way. But as the crashing grew fa inter andfa inter we looked at one another in hopelessdisgust . Three elephants had been under thetree and one in the grass , and the bushbuck ’swarn ing was not in va in . How we cursed thewretched brute

I99

Lake Victoria to KhartoumFood was now the order of the day under the

spreading branches of the tree , but we had barelygotthe box open when another crashing, quiteclose by

,came from the direction of ou r l ine of

advance . E lephants , no doubt ! As the noisegrew louder and more close

,we gripped our

rifles , determined to do or die. I n a momentthey would move into ou r wind and we shouldknow the worst— whether they would bolt , or

whether they were outfor blood and meantcharging. The worst happened , and they fled .

Would you bel ieve i t ! They were the sameanimals we had disturbed a moment before . Twomen , who had gone in pursuit of their tracks ,came in and reported the fact. What must havehappened was th is ! the bushbuck had giventhe whole show away . N0 animal in the jungleever disda ins another’s warn ing signal

,and al

though the elephants had neither seen nor heardanyth ing, they knew that they had better maketheir absence fel t— atany rate , for a time. Aftergoing for a Short distance , however, they hadprobably col lected their shattered nerves andheaded back to continue their s iesta under theirfavourite tree

,and to investigate matters gen

erally. Then they had gotour wind . I f onlywe had stopped fifty yards behind

,where the

grass was thinner,the elephants would have

walked straight into us . But no one in hissenses would have stopped outin the open to eat

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Lake Victoria to Khartouming rays beneath the wild date palms

,a very

pleas ing feature in the picture,varied by the fan

palms , having green feather- l ike leaves and brightorange stalks covered with similarly coloured fruit.When ripe this fruit becomes dark brown , l ikethe cultivated date. At intervals , a few del ightful moments of repose would be passed by amarshy stream , almost hidden by its rich jungleof shade.Then came some weary marches through an

everlasting bush of mimosa thorn which rose l ikeimpenetrable wal ls on either S ide of us . Alongthis road there is hardly any rising ground ; hencei t is impossible to see anything for more than afew yards around one

,unless one is will ing to

brave the dangers of penetrat ing the bush andreturning to camp with tattered garments andruffled temper

,i f return you can

,for when only a

few yards from camp it is quite possible to gethopelessly lost . The imperviousness of thisjungle in some places is almost unbel ievable ; thebushes of wai t - a - bit thorn form an absolutely impassable barrier. Every tree of every descriptionabout here seems to be armed by nature withweapons for its own defence. The natural i st canhere enjoy every hour of his day. The flowersare lovely and animal l i fe is seen in many unaccustomed forms . Quaint spire - l ike ant -hills ,tapering to pinnacles of fifteen feet in height , andthe clustered nests of the noisy , yellow weaver

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Back to Ugandabirds meet the eye on every side . From tree totree huge grey spiders which weave webs of

si lk- l ike material,which with the dew and the

morning sun upon them look l ike gauze curta inssuspended in the air. On the ground lurkcreeping things innumerable

,and deadly mambas ,

both ol ive and black varieties,whose bite means

a sure and speedy death . Wherever there is arocky é opj e you are sure to hear at nightfal l thehideous scream of the baboons .The last night out we made for a pond , famedal l the country round

,in order that my men

might do great things in the washing l ine, andget themselves spick - and - span to make their entre’einto Bombo, the head - quarters of the regiment.I t was a great disappointment to us

,however, to

find nothing but a muddy puddle,

_ well trampledby oxen , who had just been watered there .Needless to say we did not stay for our proposedwashing, but hurried on . After the long, flatstretch of waterless

,dust - covered country we had

crossed,it was a great rel ief to reach the hil ls

round Bombo,where the rustl ing fronds of the

banana trees give their pleas ing shade , to attainthe land of sweet potatoes and al l things good thatappeal to the long - suffering porter ’s stomach .

And so Bombo was reached . We had timeand to spare to rest our weary legs there beforesetting forth once more on my last j ourney outof th is unheal thy land .

203

XV

H IPPOPOTAMUS

SWAH ILI K IBOKO. ARAB IC GERUNTI

AM going to relate a day ’s experience withhippo and savages in one and the samebreath . The scene is on the N ile

,just

below the Fola Rapids,in the narrowest

part of the river,where the great Congo moun

tains seem to try and meet those round N imule .

I shall not stop to describe either the ponderousbeast or h is habits . All the world knows that byday he l ives in the water among reeds

,coming

up to blow and snort at intervals ; whilst at n ighthe lands to take his meal of grass and make abeastly row

,booming about the place l ike the

savages I am impl icating in the day’s amusement .Well , I shot one . And of course I returnedto my tent

,l ike Job, to sleep off my impatience

til l the carcase should get ful l enough of gas torise from the bottom of the river . This usual lytakes about three or four hours .Camp was pitched in one of the beautiful shadyacacia groves

,of which there are numbers on the

banks of the N ile here,not far from a large vil lage

owned by a dear Old man called Kuyu . The204

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Lake Victoria to Khartoummethod to be pursued in gett ing him the twohundred yards or so into the bank .

The savages said , “ I know ! ”O ff some twenty went

,

“ stark oh! halfswimming

,half float ing

,each man on his ambatch

log, towards the carcase . Meanwhile I had seenanother big hippo

,and having quest ioned them

closely as to whether i t was poss ible to securethe two

,and being answered in the affirmat ive

,

proceeded to add him to my l ist. As luck wouldhave it , the pack of savages who had started offafter the first dead hippo were carried by theflow of the stream right in the way of the secondhippo

,who luckily happened to be in his death

throes . However, I covered him with my riflein case he should have enough l ife left in him toturn nasty

,but up went his legs

,and he kufa- ed,

”

as they say, whilst the swimmers were within ayard or two of him all round .

I turned to the savages who had remained on

the bank with me , and intimated that i t was awonder that none of the people in the water hadgot hurt, and they sa id, I know !Well , the swimmers tied the rOpe to the leg

of the aforesaid dead hippo , and after a lot ofshouting and shoving got him off the rocks andstarted him on his way to the bank.

I remarked that I hoped they had gothold of

the other end of the rope , and they repl ied , “ Iknow

206

HippopotamusI then entered into conversation with the chief

,

and told him how the Shilluks,further down the

N ile,who are past -masters in the mysteries of a

hippo hunt,always manage to have an ambatch

float (made of very l ight wood , almost altogetherpith) attached to the moribund carcase, and heanswered

,

“ I know ! ”

After a lotof jabber and chatter the swimmers ,each supported onhis own log of ambatch , reachedter ra firma . I said I hoped the hippo wouldsoon be hauled to shore , as I wished to take aphotograph of him ; and they said , “ Oh

,no ! we

haven ’t gothimH e had sunk again , they informed me and on

being questioned as to the method of procedure,

whether they had tied the rope to his leg (Ye swhether anyone had hold of the rope

,or had

attached a float thereto , they said , “ No ! Weought to have !I n a white- hot rage I stormed , “ You have losthim !

” and I ’l l be hanged if they didn’t reiterate,

I know ! ”Grand finale Coloured l ights

,and air of varied

hues !I roared with laughter and hopeless disgust !

By Gad ! I t makes one s ickto think of it ! Whatcan one do with such extraordinary woodenheaded

,know - al l people as savages ! They are

bred savages,born savages

,dragged up as

savages , and they always will be savages .207

Lake Vic toria to KhartoumFor the best part of eight years I ’ve l ived

amongst many of the different untamed denizensof these African wilds , and have thought I ’veknown their habits and customs ; nevertheless , Ihave not yet succeeded in arriving at the bottomof their extraordinary procl ivi t ies .They wil l go on saying “ I know ! ” til l

kingdom come , whilst you wil l go on bel ievingthem !Well, the real wind -up of this hippo episodewas on the day fol lowing the above remarks ;and it gave me no reason to al ter a single wordof what I have said about savages .News came in from the men who had been

sent rushing Off at early dawn to look out for thefloating carcase— enemy— that they had found hisbody

,and

,what was more , had retrieved him ,

and that he was hard and fast to the bankdefeated with heavy loss On this being swornto with'

many“b illahis

,spears thrown on the

ground,and hands rai sed in the air

,I thought i t

was good enough to go and visi t the scene— of

the decisive battle.And it was a scene ! Talk about savages ,

hyenas weren ’t in it with them‘Although the teeth of the monster were to becut ‘ out for me , as was quietly explained by thechief and universal ly accepted with loud acclamations

,within five short minutes the whole bloom

ing tribe were hacking,hewing

,cutting , howling,

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Hippopotamusshouting, and squabbl ing (that

’s al l the verbs Ican make use ofat present) without reason . Theywere only savagesThe bank was very steep and the stench rose

,

but the head did not because every man,woman

,

or child was trying to secure a piece of meat,

chiefly stomach . After standing this for an houror so under a broil ing African sun in the noonday heat , you can imagine the state of my temper.One of the promiscuous bits of stomach , thatwere being continual ly hurled up the bank to noone in particular, but the whole women folk of thetribe in general

,caught me in the face

,and in

sheer self- defence I had to figuratively wade inwith a stick . The head had just been severed

,

and luckily my orderl ies had hold of i t ; but astern order for the remainder of the carcase to beshoved off and let go , so that I might obta in mysmal l wants

,met with a howl of disgust .

The animal was fast putrefying, and they hadgot piles of stinking meat . What they wantedwith more no one knows , but I eventually succeeded in getting some twenty or thirty ablebodied men to attend to my requirements . Imanaged to secure the four teeth al l right , thoughit took me til l four O ’clock in the afternoon beforeI had them back in camp.

The savages— poor devils — must have theirfi lthy food

,and as a result

,at 10 p m . on the same

evening more than half the village was stupefiedP 209

Lake Victoria to Khartoumfrom overeating

,and the rest t ipsy— the results

of“ merissa or native beer brewed from dhurra

in honour of the occasion . Although they lovethe meat above all things , what good does a surfeit of i t do them ! I suppose it ’s l ike a boatrace night in town , which , being interpreted tothose not in the know ,

” means a gigantic bust !Equally unintell igible I hope !Well , the tusks were good ones , so I went to

bed happy but I will never retract any remarksI have made about savages .

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Lake Victoria to Khartoumfurther south . These topi were inhabiting thesame kind of bush country as I have described inB ig Game Snooting ontlze E quator .

I was very much distressed at notbeing ableto obtain a photograph , but i t was far too early inthe morning for the light

,and I was handicapped

by being hard pressed for time,with a series of

long marches in front .I repeat I have not the least hesitation in

saying he was a topi ; nevertheless , I would asksportsmen in the Sudan Government , l iving on ther zgntéané of the N ile in the Province of Mon

gal la and at the head - quarters of the Sobatriver

,to make careful notes as to which species

occurs in their districts , in order that somethingdefinite may be ascertained as to where the l inecomes that marks the meeting -place between thet iang of the North and the topi of the South .

Topi are known to exist in fair quantities inthe Gondokoro district

,but are very much more

numerous the nearer to Abyssin ia that one goesEast

,that is to say. They are to be met with

in the south of Uganda towards Imbarara andthe S eml iki river

,and are there found in large

herds .

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XV I I

OR IB I

HAVE seen a good deal of this l ittle animalof late, both in the flesh and in the pot.H e is much to be admired in either capaci ty

,

being beautiful to behold and very goodto eat .After the guinea - fowl or partridge

,or anything

0’ that ilk

,the oribi easi ly holds prem iére place

at dinner in the wilds,where one i s for ever try

ing to throw off the shackles of interminablecourses of antelope meat . There is not much of

him when he ’s divided up,i t ’s true

,but what

there is is “top hole.” H e is a beast after the

heart of the gourmeti f not of the gou rmana’.

Next to the dik - dik tribe,I take i t he is the

smal lest game animal in Africa throughout i tslength and breadth ! a sprightly l ight fawncoloured l ittle gentleman

,growing two slender

horns rather sloping backwards and then forwards ,but almost straight

,with ring marks round their

bases for an inch or so up towards the tips .One finds them in Uganda and the Sudan inalmost al l places not very far from water, general lyin pairs

,but sometimes in company with one or

two others who have presumably come to pay2 1 3

Lake Victoria to Khartoumthem a visit and pass the time of day. Theyseem to affect bush or grass country— not forests

— and afford good sport if pursued with a rifle .

They may be seen feeding in the early morning, and are then more easi ly stalked than in theheat of the noonday sun . I f disturbed whenresting under the shade of a friendly bush , theyjump up with a couple of startl ing bounds , standfor a moment to see who or what has disturbedthem

,and then gal lop Off through the under

growth . If one does not avai l oneself of theshot they afford when they stand on first beingdisturbed

,i t is useless to fol low them up

,as

,

being so smal l and l ight,they leave no tracks

beh ind them to guide the sportsman . A standingshot is generally the only one that can be attempted . Such a shot has the advantage of

showing you how steadily you are shooting ; i fyou can manage to hold straight and bag anorib i , it

°means that your hand is in a fit state totry the neck - shot on any an imal you may meetafterwards ; and what is more , when you meetthat next animal you tackle him with confidence.I f you fal l in with a pai r of oribi you may

reasonably presume that there are more not sovery far away . I have several places in mymind ’s eye where the sight of a pai r

,on a low

ridge or in th inly - bushed grass country,always

has , and for ever will , mean more , so long as onehunts for them in the same kind of country

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Oribifol lowing along the ridge

,or persevering under

the latter conditions . They may seem ratherins ignificant

,but they ’

re worthwhile adding toone ’s l ist of “ game shot for the ir fleshas wel las their littleheads , whichlook quite wel l fi l l ingup the gaps onthe wal ls of one ’s ances tralhal lsbetweenthe more magnificent trophies onwhichone sets so muchs tore .

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XV I I I

BOUND FOR KHARTOUMONCE MORE

T was on a Tuesday, the 4thof August ,

1908 , that I started from Bombo for my lasttrek throughUganda to jo in the headquarters ofthe Egyptian army atKhartoum .

I setouton my j ourney accompanied by many a

wishfor good luck in the new land and serv iceI was entering. The seasonwas notpropitious

,

as the rains were attheirheight . During thegreater part of the journey the rain poured intorrents day and night ; soaked u s allto the skin,

and added cons iderably in consequence to theweight of the loads on the unfortunate porters ’

heads . I t was imposs ible to buy flour for themto eat, as by the end of a day ’

s marchitwouldhave been converted into an indiges tible poultice .

Butlucki ly that did notmatter to them,

as

sweet potatoes,whichthey put downwithequal

voracity,were to be purchased in any quantity.

A smal l escort of an N .C .O . and three m en, withabout thirty porters , a cook , and a body — servantfor me , completed the party, whichstarted merrilyaway in the bril l iant sunshine of a temporarybreak inthe rains .

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Lake Victoria to Khartoumdes truct ive are purple thistles , six feethighwithlarge leaves , white on their under s ide .Presently we reached a clear flowing stream ,

which, journeying from east to wes t , bubbledalong in its deep sandy bed . A l ittle later wecame across one of those bottom less morassesthat exist only in Uganda , and about whichonebitterly complains . One s inks up to the waist inblack

,thick

, stink ing mud and althoughin someplaces attemptshave been made to erect a kindof bridge withthe s tems of the abundant Dom

palm,these places are oftenjust the most danger

ous,because the stems ,having no firm foundat ion,

are aptto rol l away from underfoot when one

steps on them . The inc idents of A frican travelmust be experienced to be appreciated . To jumpfrom one plank to another

,to m iss one ’s footing

and fal l up to the breast in water and mud,to

feel the burning sensation caused by the sharppo inted barbs of spear - grass , and above all towitness the absurd appearance presented by a

whole company of people kicking about in swampand mud— all these things are part of the day ’

s

march. However, one gets gradual lyhardenedby force of circumstances

,and ceases to care very

much,t il l in the end one seems to forget these

troubles and difficulties to a great extent ; and itis only when one ’s pet rifle or field- glasses are

dropped into the water that the nasty l ittle thingcal led temper makes itselfheard .

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Bound for Khartoum Once More

Withall this grass about,game was practical ly

invis ible, and itwas only atlong intervals thatone m ight qu ite by chance com e across a smal lherd congregated in a clearing. Ahartebeestnow and again, a s tray Uganda cob or two, was

practical ly all the amusement to be obtainedduring this the first part of the march.I was trying a new route muchto the east of

my last trek . Little attempt atc ivil iz ation brokethe everlasting monotony of swamp

,water, and

elephant grass . N0house invited the s trangerto enter and rest awhile . Groups of m imosasformed the only rel ief tothe swampy land coveredwiththis tal l grass , inwhichthousands of blackandwhite mosquitoesheld the ir concerts . Thewater stood everywhere knee - deep uponthe levelplain thickly grown withgrasses . A pathsomee ighteen inches wide led throughthis chaos of

water and mud. Where elephantshad used it,the ir v is its were plainly indicated byholes intowhichwe sometimes fell . I saw atone placea smal lherd of buffal o ata d istance from theroad enjoying themselves in the mud. As ou r

caravan approached them the buffaloes rushedmadly away, kicking up the water behind them .

V ery noticeable were the swarms of butterfl iesof all sorts and s iz es whichflew round u s inthem idst of the swamps , sometimes even a l ightingon ou r clothes .

Throughout this marsh- land smal l patches of

2 19

Lake Victoria to Khartoums l ightly higher ground form occas ional smal lislands . They are thickly covered by low

m imosas,and many of them are crowned with

groups of gneiss blocks some ten feet inhe ight .One wondershow itis poss ible for these rocks tohave found their way into the m iddle of this levelswamp - land.

So we marched on throughthick and thin,and

once when I remarked to the gu ides that theym ight let u shalt for the day, as the porters mustbe tired withwading throughthe mud, I was toldthat our quarters for the night were quite near.

I t turned out,however, that theywere atleasttwo

wholehours dis tant . Butthe porters allgot there ,whichwil l give an idea of a Baganda

’

s marchingpowers , whenhe does march

,as wel l as the

inconsequence and lack of knowl edge of one ’sdaily guide .On nearing the Kafu river Ihad to work wes t

wards , as the stream was swol len and impassablewhere I now s truck it, and there were no nat iveswithcanoes in this low- lying expanse of swamp .

I t was therefore necessary to strike for thescene of my previous passage, where also Ihopedto find some game forthe larder inthehalf- clearedcountry amongs t the shambas that I knew off.

Wehitoff the cross ing all right atK ichuya, andI was able to get m eat for mysel f, the remainderof the party also tumbl ing in for their share buton the way wehad to negotiate a large marsh

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Lake Victoria to Khartoumputties , and winding the tail ofhis shirthigherandhigher— round one ’s neck if necessaryadvance uponthe swamp in that fashion, becausesoaked breeches impede walking sadly, bes idesbeing aptto rub one severely.

The next day saw us into Mas indi once again— for the las t time , I am afraid — and itwas a

shocking day. No less than three times were wesoused to the skin in deluges of rain three t imesthe swear-words became m ilder and d ied awayas the clothes dried on us in the sun ; a fourthtime a storm caught us a short quarter of a m ilefrom the comfortable bungalow I was -makingfor, where Ihoped to find a friend indeed on sucha day as this . Butalas ! the place was nu

tenanted ; the owner was travell ing roundhisdistrict, and we found no servant , no nothing.

To make matters worse, the porters were farbehind, as this was a very long march, bes idesbe ing exceptional ly trying owing to the dreadfulcl imatic conditions . Nothing but drenching,pouring rainallthe evening outs ide , and shiveringdampness ins ide . There are many of you

,my

kind friends , in town or inthe country in yours tately Engl ishhomes , wherehospital ity is dispensedwithlav ishhand , whohave no idea ofthehardships and discomforts of a wandering l ifem ids t a burning tropical sunwhicheats up thevery marrow in one’s bones , t il l one fancies onehas atlast reached an earthly Hades, only to be

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Lake Victoria to KhartoumUnyoro, some two days ’

marchd is tant to thesouth-wes t. The road is broad and careful lycleared , as there is qu ite a cons iderable amountof traffichere, and many nat ives own extens iveshambas bordering the roadside. We marcheda long the usua l see - saw- l ike road of Ugandaproper, the country being muchcut up by watercourses , all bubbl ing merrily a long atthis tim eof the year, between the ridges crowned withelephant grass and fores t trees .

Ho ima is a s traggl ing place lying in an am

phitheatre of highhil ls facing west . TheMil itary H il l is southof the C iv il H il l and theIndian Baz aar, and everything is clean and tidy.

This is a grea t centre of trade , almost equal lingKampala , ten days away to the south- east by thecart road . The N ile flotil la, be itremembered,does , in additionto allthe N ile work to and fromN imule

,the carrying trade for the Belgians in

the Congo across Lake A lbert from its wes ternshores to the port of Butiaba — a wind - blownsandy spit some twenty m iles northof old- tim eK ibero

,a fort inthe Mut iny days .

The s ite of Ho imahas been changed two or

three t imes owing to severe outbreaks of s ickness , but I should say ithas nowgrown too bigto move again. I t is thehead - quarters of thenorthernmost detachment of the K ing’

s AfricanR ifles

,bes ides hav ing a large complement of

Protectorate Pol ice . The Sub - Comm iss ioner in2 24

Bound for Khartoum Once More

charge of the prov ince was away on tour atthetime of my arrival , so I passed a very pleasantevening atthehouse of anold S omal iland friend

,

Captain George Lane , where chatwaxed fast and furious t il l long pas t m idnight .Here I changed my plans , and ins tead of boardingthe launchatButiaba as was my firs t intention,

made up my m ind to trek northwards round theedge of Lake A lbert and p ickher up atBugungu

,

spending the time in between in trying for

elephant in that d istrict . This would involvepass ing throughthe Budonga Fores t GameReserve,however, where of course shooting isbarred , but atthe same time the route was l ittleknown,

and lay practical ly along the lake shore,whi ls t I could cross the Reserve in a day withluck . Moreover, I should notbe in the forestatall, and I was led to bel ieve that the go ing wasgood andthe grass short

,added to whichIhad

greathopes of being able to secure one ofthe bigwaterbuck that Ihad seen in these low- lying parts .

We pitched our camp inthe old spothal f-waydown the escarpment

, some five m iles fromButiaba , where a message was sent to the officerin charge inform inghim of my intentions , and

asking for the launchand boats to put intoBugungu . There are large numbers of bushbuck on the escarpment itself, and on the flatgrass lands atits foot . I managed to bag, bes idesahartebeest for the men’

s food , a very nice speciQ

Lake Victoria to Khartoummen of the species of bushbuck

, withthe mass ivehorns I mention elsewhere , al thoughnotsucha b ig one as that obtained by Mr. Murray sometwenty m i les southof this .

The road was very pretty nohightrees,and

no more of the objectionably long grasses . Thepathwound in and outbetween sweet - smell ing

,

golden,flowering m imosas , and was carpeted by

nice soft velvety turf, picked outwithquantitiesof pink andwhite trumpet - shaped l ilies . We advanced very wari ly, wel l ahead of the caravan,

peering round every corner to avo id s tartl ingthegame , whichwas plentiful .Suddenly our gu ide stopped dead , and

po inted out the stately form of a veritablepatriarchamong waterbucks , withthe fines thorns Ihad ever beheld— beautiful , symmetrical

,and wide - spreading. He was unconscious

of ou r presence , but ev identlyhadheard or

suspected some kind of danger, as he s toodalert withears pricked , but fortunately looking in the wrong direction. I took hurriedaim atsome fifty yards , andhe fel l to a shot inthe neck. This was good work , ashishornstaped 3 2% inches . I t was ,however, useless totakehis mask , as tohave preserved itin therains wouldhave been qu ite imposs ible, becausedrying was out of the ques tion,

and the maggotsand bugs m ighthave gotinto some other morevaluable skins I was us ing every endeavour to

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Lake Victoria to Khartoumfourhundred yards away from the river to tryand circumvent the myriads of mosqu itoes thatwould s tart s inging on the river bank atsunset.Messages were sent to the local chief makingarrangements for the purchase of food , and re

ques tinghim to come in and see m e and breakfast was got under weigh. In anhour or so

som e nat ives arrived withthe news that aherdof about fifty elephants were somewhere about

,

and parties were despatched northand eas t tofind their tracks . A t the end of a terrific downpour

,that lasted til l about three o ’clock in the

afternoon, some of my porters rushed inwiththenews that theyhad beenheld up by a mob of

elephants jus t on the other s ide of the Wa iga ,

in Me Reserve. Outwe went,

armed to theteeth, and inthe s ilence after the s torm we couldclearly d is tinguishatintervals the trumpetingand crashing of elephants as they fed in thejungle . We wandered along bythe river all thatafternoon

, s lowly keep ing paral lel to the elephants ’ l ine of march

,hop ing againsthope that

the notion of cross ing the Waiga in our directionwould enter the irheads . I must own I wassorely tempted to cross andhave a dig atthem

,

and my men begged me to al low them to go and

try to drive them over. Butthis I could notal low, as if Ihad sent them I shouldhave tohavegiven them a rifle for protection’

s sake,and then

itm ighthave been used— rightly or wrongly ; so,

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Bound for Khartoum Once More

bad luck to it, wehad to cont inue on our j ourneyand leave the elephants behind . They m ighthave crossed inhal f anhour, or they m ighthaveremained on the other bank for two or threedays

,and time was press ing. The chief reported

more ahead, and said thathehad sent on a party

ofhis own nat ives to scour the country, and

order more men to go outfor the same purpose all round ou r next camp . Henceforwardwe marched along a better four- foot road ,betokening the presence of v il lageshidden inthebusha l ittle way back . A few patches of s ims im

andmabogo were v is ible atintervals onthe ris ingground to the east . Of game tracks there werevery few

,til l on rounding a sharp bend inthe

pathwe found ourselves face to face witha bul lbuffalo gaz ing intently atus to d iscover who theintruders m ight be thathad broken intohis sol itude . Buffaloes are wonderful ly qu ick ofhearing,and ashehadn’t bolted atthe firs t sound of our

approach,ashis kind usual ly do unless prev ious ly

annoyed , I was afraidhe meant m ischief to thecaravan, whichwas wel l up withu s now that theground was drier . Hehad nota bighead , butwas of the Abyss inian species , whichcarriessma l lerhorns

,but is every bitas nasty as the

Cape buffalo found further south. Again theMannl icher proved its worth, ashe dropped wherehe s tood witha bullet inhis brain. We gatheredafterwards thathe mus thave s trayed fromhis

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Lake Victoria to Khartoumherd

,as we came on the spoor of a cons iderable

number lead ing away from the lake a short wayahead. When cutting him up

,we found em

bedded in the fleshof his hindquarters twobarbed arrow-heads whichhad been broken off

short,leaving only the iron tips ins ide two large

fes tering sores . This accounted forhis truculentappearance

,and showed that nativeshad been

after theherd . They pursue buffalo and elephants atthis time of the year withpo isonedarrows . Having no iseless ly stalked them ,

theydischarge their deadly weapons from close quarters and leave the wretched animals to die a

l ingering death, trus ting to be ing gu ided to thecorpse by the s ign of the b irds of prey whichwheel inthe sky overhead . Of course there is a

law agains t this,but

,no matterhow s tringentthe

legis lation be, so long as there is no game ranger

to enforce itthese atrocities wil l cont inue , andthebeasts ofthe jungle wil l continue to suffer. S omethere are who say that the Unyoro elephant wil ldie out, as they adm ittedly carry the biggesttusks in Uganda ; and al thoughthere are greatnumbers of them ,

they are the more eas i ly gotatfrom Entebbe— withany certainty— than any

otherherds . Onthe otherhand , all theherds inthe ne ighbourhood of Mas ind i , near K ilianongoand Paniatoli

,have been so tremendous ly shot

atin the last few years that the ir tempershavebeen ruined

,and they are thereby in more or

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Lake Victoria to Khartouma year thanthe white manwil l do in three , andtrust to the ir cuteness to avo id detection. Thereis a k ind of freemasonry among them where an

elephant is concerned. You may send yourtrusted orderly outtohis own v il lage wherehisfather and mother and allthe res t ofhis kithandkin l ive , to try and buy a smal l cow elephant ’stusk as a curios ity— m money or sheep downandhe’l l returnwiththe information that thereare none in the countrys ide . I t seems odd,

but,

after a week ’

s march,he wil l quietly remark that

there were of course heaps , but they couldn’td ispose of them to the white man

,ashe was

probably offering to buy on purpose to reportthem and get them into trouble. By way of

i l lustration,take the case of elephants that we

have allheard of, whichhave got away wounded .

What becomes of their tusks ! They get intothehands of the natives who barter them for

so many sheep and cattle,and qu ite rightly too .

Buthowmany incomparison do they shoot themselves

,and say they found them dying of awound

by a rifle - shotP And who is to st0p them so

long as this freemasonry cont inues,except an

Engl ishgame ranger who goes about amongs tthem

,and

,hav ing gained their respect , puts down

the practice witha firmhand ! There are gamerangers and to spare in other parts of A frica fortheprotection of other smal l game surely elephants ,whose valuable ivory forms sucha large portion

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of Uganda’

s export trade,need looking after even

more, if poss ible , than other and lesser beasts .

On reaching Bugunguwe found thatthe launchand boatshad notyet arrived , so we were ableto turn ou r attention to aherd of elephants whichwere wandering about something under fifteenm iles away. Their spoorhad been found and

was be ing followed up, buttwo days ’

searchfailedto locate them withany certainty. As they wereon trek atthis time of the year, a marchafterthem wouldhave been somewhat of a wild -goosechase til l they settled down for a b it, added towhichwas the fact that theyhadnotbeenv iewed,and so there m ight nothave been a shootable bul lamongs t them . Accordingly

, whils t the searchparties were out, I turned my attent ion to thelarge flocks of p intail and whis tl ing teal whichfrequented a marshy corner near by . When en

grossed in this pas tim e my orderly became awareof the presence of a smal l school ofhippo disporting themselves in a sheltered bay of LakeA lbert . Havingheardthe report ofthe gun theywisely kept too far outto enable me withcertaintyto bring off an effective shot, so some specialplanhad to be formulated. We s craped a longtrenchinthe sand wel l above water mark in preparation for the morrow, whenwe brought a lotof natives withu s to try andhoax thehippo .

Having gotinto thishole withone gun- bearer, Isent allthe rest ofthe mob away

,tell ing them to

2 33

Lake Victoria to Khartoumwalk alpng the beachin ful l View ofthe animals .

Some menwere posted wel l back outof view tokeep anyone from approaching our place of con

cealment, andwe settled ourselves down to a longwait .As the sun gothotter thehippo came closer in

to the bay , and began ris ing to blow atintervalsand fal l ing again,

partial ly as leep. A t lengththey seemed close enough. I fired atone of

them andheard the bullet tel l ” witha loudsmack onhis head ; this was followed immediately by a trem endous surging and boil ing of

the waters . Up camehishead again in apparently the same spot

,andhe sankhitagain,

turning a somersault inthe water, showinghisl ittle s tout legs wagginghard “ And then a

dreadful thinghappened '” I found Ihad shotan unfortunate babyhippo . So l ittle of themshow when they are asleep that itis extremelydifficult to knowwhat you are shoot ing at, and itis only when they see you , and therefore showthemselveshigher out ofthe surface , that you areable to pick outa b ig one . A l l youhave gottogo by is the lengthof theirheads . I can onlyconclude that my v ictim musthave come up inthe same line— bearing to me — as one ofhisparents . Another difficulty was that they all

appeared to be s leeping withone eye laz ily fixedon the shore as thoughthey feared danger, so

that they were allhead on. I f theyhad been234

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Bound for Khartoum Once More

in a river,they would probably be facing different

ways .

However, itdidn’t matter so very much,as the

carcase was speedi ly cut up and carried off bythe various vil lagers inthe neighbourhood . Nextmorning, whenwe were all packed up

,the s tart

was delayed by one of my dear dogs be ingm iss ing. We foundhim more thanhal f stupefiedby a surfeit of deadhippo !I s tarted on my journey withtwo dogs — one

the nices t bull - terrier Raffles ”

) I’

ve everhad,

and the other a Borz o i I t was thelatter whohad so distingu ishedhimself, althoughhe was fed twice a day regularly— as they bothwere , to prevent jealousy— and often left a largepart ofhis food in order to go and steal any raw

bits of meat that m ight be lying about camp .

They are awful thieves , I ’m afraid,and nothing

can break them of it. They bothsurvived thetrek, but alas ! D ick is no more ; the other is fi tandhappy and flourishing

,notm indingthe cl imate

of Khartoum a b it. Dear old Raffles !Once aboard the launchand any voyage

is very muchl ike another. We steamed byday, and tied up in the evening to give themen a chance of cooking their food ashore and

to al lowthe engineerhis night ’s s leep. I usedto sal ly forthof an evening to try and providefood for the men and exerc ise and sport formyself

,and to vary the monotony of a river

2 35

Lake Victoria to Khartoumvoyage . F reshmeat was a valuable asset forone ’s own k itchen in a country where itwasimposs ible to buy sheep. An encounter withawhite rhinohas been described elsewhere , and

another witha v icious cow elephant was notatall pleasant. We had landed to cut wood toreplenishthe s tokehole

,when I came on the

spoor of elephant . A fter a short trek my dependents came to a dead s top and swore theyhadheard a crashing to ou r left . I qu ite thoughttheir nerves were on edge

,as wehad traversed

some nasty bushcountry . However, these peopleare very rarely deceived in the jungle , so aftersending a couple of men to reconno itre thesupposed pos ition we satdown. Sure enoughthere wer e elephant, and they find bolted . Thisput new l ife into the proceedings ins tanter ; wesetabout following up the tracks , whichl edparal lel to the N ile . S oontheherd broke up ;s ix cows and young went one way ,

and about tenbulls and cows another.

Some of these chi ldren of nature , whohavebeen brought up in these out— of-the -way spotsfrom l ittle tots , are qu ite marvel lous in theirreasoning powers when itcomes to elephant .They said that these cows withca lves wouldn’tand couldn’t go very far or fast

,and would , by

ins tinct , be sure to jo in up withthe bulls near theriver , al thoughthe others m ight go some d istanceround ata goodhard trot in a sem ic ircle. As

2 36

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Lake Victoria to Khartoumcoast was clear we moved rapidly Natural lythe no ise we made break ing throughthe dry

grass was cons iderable , move as carefully as we

would,and the upshot was another crashclose

by on ou r left , caused by one of those infernalcows turning up once more . And this was sometwo m iles from the scene of our firs t encounter.

Nowshe came up withthe devi l inher eyes and

we saw in a glade two more cows facing us , withthree calveshuddled up under them .

I t was only another case of an elephanthunthaving gone wrong . I n ou r eagerness wehadm iscalculated t ime and dis tance ; otherwise mypeople were perfectly correct in the ir suppos itions .

We ran l ike rabb its from this awful apparit ion,hoping she wouldn’t leaveher cal f, and on our

way back to the boats cut into the spoor of theremainder of theherd , ev idently making for a

po int to meet ou r friends the cows . Then thes team whistle began sounding v iolently , wakingthe echoes around

,giv ing us due notice that

the skipper was in ahurry to be off, so there wasnothing for itbut to make tracks atonce. I t wasshocking luck , as , judging by the footmarks , Iam sure there was a b ig bull , and this was thefifthdisappointment Ihadhad. Butthere alwaysis “the b iggest bul l I ’ve ever met” m ixed up inany story inwhichtheherd get away 'No further inc ident marked our journey toN imule , where we disembarked and prepared for

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Bound for Khartoum Once More

our walk to Gondokoro— the las t trek in UgandaI expect I sha l l ever do . I don’t know that I ’ma l together sorry in a way. It’s true my firs tmarchthroughwithChurchil l ended inthe greatestluck I

’

ve everhad— being attached to theEgyptianarmy— but, barring trekking, it’sthe onlycountry Ihave ever been qu ite knocked over in,

as regards be ing ill, s ince Ihave served in theEast. India everyone knows ! S omal iland wasbeautifully dry andheal thy ; East Africa’

s cl imateis “ tophole — you can’t wishfor a better any

where inthe H ighlands ; but I ’m afraid I don’t takeaway a good impress ion of Uganda , and I thinkthe maj ority of my brother officers there wil l bearme out. However , least sa id soones t mended !On l eaving N imule , I was determ ined to carry

outa project that Ihad longhad before m e .

This was to cross to the Congo s ide of the N ileand see what the country there was made of.

I t is the piece of land [s ic] leased to the Belgiansca l led the Lado Enclave . As itis to be takenover by the S udan Government when certaincontingenc ies arise, I thought a l ittle knowledgem ight be of val ue .The difficulty was to get across the N ile .

There was no one to say me nay over the way ;but the rapids formed a serious obstacle, becausethere m ight notbe canoe owners wil ling to crossthe turbulent waters . Well

,this was aecom

plished without any great difficulty , throughthe239

Lake Victoria to Khartoummedium of an old chief whom Ihad m etbefore ,andwho bargained for a wholehippo forhim self— tohis own cheek— and one more forhis v i l lage .

Rather extortionate itmay seem , but I saw themfloating dead before I askedhim to redeemhisprom ise ! Suffice itto say thathe was as goodashis word . I won’t s tate where we crossed , asthe dear old man m ight get “hotted

,

”

s incehisactionwas notquite in accordance withthe rulesbuthe played the game up to thehil t.The Congo mountainshad longheld a greatfascination for me andwhat was beyondA fter a realhard day ’

s work navigating and

cl imbing, we reached our temporary goal , and

shook down anyhow for the night. Next morning the view was splendid from a level rockyspur wehadhappened to s trike the night before .

The mountain onwhichwe s tood,elevated perhaps a thousand feet from the river bed

, was a

highcone that rose a l ittle in advance of thatrange whichstretched for m iles behind us

,as far

as the western shore of the lake , until , meetingits s ister piles beyondthe water

,itran off towards

the Congo in confused and broken masses of

rock, thinly sprinkled withevergreens . Immediately atone ’s feet the wes t shore of the N i leswept in a broad sem icircle from mountain tomountain, marking a wide s trand that soon roseinto an uneven and som ewhat elevated plain.

To the norththe river s tretched l impid , indented240

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withnumberless bays , embell ished by fantasticheadlands,and dotted withcountless is lands . A

few m iles away the bed of the waters becamelos t among mountains , or was wrapped in themasses of vapours that came s lowly roll ing alongtheir bosom before a l ight morning breez e. Buta narrow opening inthe crest ofthehi l ls po intedoutthe passage by whichthe waters found theirway st il l further north, there to spread the ir pureand ample sheets again inthe sudd country . Tothe southlay Dufile ,

lately evacuated,withits

pa lm trees and its ruinedhouses . For severa lm iles in this d irection the m ountains appearedreluctant to yield their dom inion, but , withinreachof the eye , they diverged , and final lymelted into the level and sandy lands acrosswhichwehad accompanied ou r gu ide. Alongbothranges ofhil ls whichbounded the oppos ites ide of the river and val ley clouds of lightvapour were either ris ing in spiral wreaths fromthe uninhabited woods , looking like the smokeofhidden cottages

,or rolling laz ily down the

decl iv ities to m ingle withthe fogs of the lowerlands . The countryhad been cleared of woodfor a cons iderable dis tance round , as a v i l lage layatou r feet , but every other part of the scenewore the green l ivery of nature , except wherethe l impid water mellowed the v iew,

or the boldrocks thrust their black and nakedheads abovethe undulating outl ine of the mountain ranges .

R 241

Lake Vic toria to KhartoumFrom the woods a little farther to the south, rosenumerous smal l clouds of dark and lurid smoke ,that were eas ily to be dist ingu ished from thepurer exhalat ions of the springs , and whichImarked down as ev idence of another large vil lagein that direction. The natives were

,for the most

part, Kuku , but there was a fair sprinkling of

Mom and Makraka in the v il lages , owing, Ithink

,to the fact of a large cons ignment of ivory

having been brought from far away inland bythe latter . The natives of the interiorhere wil ldo anything in this underhand way to bring ivoryinto Engl ishposts , rather than to their own

Belgian s tations , so they told me,as we give

them proper prices,either in co in or implements ,

for what they bring, instead of seiz ing itata

mere nom inal valuation. The commodities theyare mos t desirous of receiving in exchange are

mainly sheep and cattle,but in addition to these

they l ike a few native soft - ironhoes— malote s .

The deal often takes days of bargaining beforean agreement is arrived at, but that ishal f thebattle to the natives ; unless therehas been a lotof argumenthe considers that nothinghas beenproperly settled.

Once beyond the mountainwal l shutting downthe left bank of the N ile , one enters upon an um

dulating land of grassy plains andwoods . Theseevidently teem withgame of all descriptionsindrier weather ; l ittle ,however, was to be seen

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Lake Victoria to Khartoumanc ient towers . We travel led along a kind ofhog’

s back whichformed the watershed to thewes t. We ascended

,unt il we reached a large

plateau of clean granite of about two acres inextent

,whence we obtained a magnificent pano

ram ic v iew of the whole country. On the eas twe looked down upon the plains throughwhichwehad arrived

,whichstretched far away beyond

the N ile until they m elted into the grey outlineof the distant mountains . Having descendedfrom this rocky plateau we carefully made our

way across a s l ippery channel thathad beenwornby the sundry torrents of the rainy season,

and

once more arrived atlevel ground. Upon our

left a mass of bold ruins,the skeleton granite

remains of a perished mountain, whichformed a

shelter from the morning sun,tempted u s tohal t .

On ou r right we werehemm ed in by a great wal lof rock

,s loped l ike ahuge whale

,somehal f a

m ile in lengthand fifty feethigh. From thesouthern extrem ity of this vas t block of rain

washed granite rose the rocky and fantast ichil lof Muyu

,cres ted withfine timber. S traight

before u s was a dead flatplain, the northendbeing marked by a curious and beautiful assemblage of immense blocks of granite and splendidgroups of weeping acacia .

Two or three days spent inwandering throughthe country were all that could be managed , asthere was a boat to be caught atGondokoro , and

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Bound for Khartoum Once More

time was onthe wing. We camped atnight ashighas poss ible,for the sake of the view as wel l

as to steer clear ofthe mosqu ito -haunted swamps .

Butone of the plains we traversed was vast , andthe mudhad clogged the feet ofthe tired porters ,so chancing upon a clear mountain s tream en

closed withshady trees we thought itgoodenoughto s top for the night , atthe foot of thelast mountain range that barred our progress tothe N ile . The cross ing of this constituted mylast marchinthe Congo.

Breaking camp at a .m . ,itseemed as if a

vast extent of country lay buried in eternals leep ; notthe l eas t sound aris ing from thefores t , unless itwas the d is tant and scarcelyaudible rippl ing of a watercourse . B irds

,beasts

,

and man al ike appeared to s lumber,if indeed

anyhuman be ings were to be found in thatwide tract of wi lderness . Butthe sounds of

the rivulets,feeble and murmuring thoughthey

were , great ly l ightened the task ofthe gu ides , andtowards these they made their way. The moonhad already sunk into an immense pil e of blackclouds

,whichlay impending above the westernhoriz on,whenwe issued from the low and devi

ous watercourse to rise again to thehighandlevel of the sandy but wooded plain. The pathsoon became more uneven, andwe could plainlysee that the mountains drew nighto u s on

e itherhand , and that we were in truthentering245

Lake Victoria to Khartoumone of the ir gorges . The route was now painful , ly ing over ground rugged withrocks and

intersected withravines and deep within theshadows that were cas t by thehighand brokensumm its of the mountains . B leak blackhil lslay on every s ide of u s

,compensating in som e

degree for the additional to i l of the marchbythe sense of security they imparted . At lengthwe began s lowly to cl imb a s teep and ruggedascent by a road that curious ly wound its wayamong rocks and trees

,avo iding the former and

gaining support from the latter in a manner thatshowed ithad beendev ised by men long practisedinthe arts of the wilderness .

As we gradual ly rose from the l evel of thev il lage

,the thick darkness whichusual ly precedes

the approachof day began to d isperse , and

objects were seen in the plain and palpablecolours withwhichtheyhave been gifted bynature . Whenwe issued from the stunted woodswhichclung to the barren s ide of the mountain,and found ourselves upon a flatand mossy rockthat formed the summ it of the chain, we metthemorning as itcame blushing above the greendowns of ahil l that lay on the oppos ite s ide ofthe val ley.

The recross ing of the N i le was comparativelyeasy

,as we were able to profit by the knowledge

gained during the outward journey to s teer clearof the more dangerous rapids and submerged

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rocks . Thus we reached Uganda safe and soundonce more after a mos t del ightful ten days ’

trip.

The next thing to be done on our forwardmarchwas to negotiate the Assua river. I t wascertain to be muchswollen by the rains , if notinactual flood , and would in any case cause sometrouble

,asthe swirl ofthe current is always great,

and large numbers of crocodiles come up fromthe N ile to lie in wait and prey upon the gamego ing down to drink atthe river’

s edge. How

ever, I was informed that there was a b ig dugoutcanoe wherewithto transport ou r kitandthe odds and ends whichone collects on a longjourney.

The wors t was in store for u s . We arriveddrenched to the sk in by aheavy rainstorm , and

s tood shivering and shaking onthe bank whilst Ilet off a gun to attract the notice of the canoemenwho l ived onthe further bank . When theyappeared

,itwas to impart the sad news that

the only eomoe availablehad beenwashed awaythe night before owing to the s il ly owl in chargeof ithav ing neither pulled ithighand dryenoughto escape a flood

,nor made itfast by a

rope. That is the savage m ind all over ! Theriver was wel l above the tops of the banks , andto cross was qu ite out of the quest ion. I m ighthave swum it, and so could a few of the rest , butthe baggage ! There was nothing for itbut to

247

Lake Victoria to Khartoums itdown in patience and send messengers toscourthe country for another canoe . We madea clearing in the elephant grass

,camped , and

cursed. A t about ten o ’clock next morninga canoe arrived ; but what a m iserable one ! I twas so narrow that nota s ingle box could be gotins ide, andthe paddlerhad to s itonthe top of itto wieldhis weapon withanyhope of success ,thereby rendering itmore topheavy andwobblythan ever . We all agreed that itwas unsafe ;but somethinghad to be done whatever we didmeant a rea l bad wetting. I s tripped and laydown,

straddl ing the thing overthetop,holding adog swimm ing in eachhand , to see what wouldhappen. Raffles behaved beautiful ly, but D ickgot a larmed and upset the whole showfive yardsfrom the bank , so that method of cross ing wasimposs ible . Then I went across by myself

,

lying in the bottom as bal las t . Even then thecanoe was dreadfully wobbly, and the exertionexhausted the paddler so muchthat itwas clearlyabsurd to suppose all the loads — as wel l as

porters — could be got over inthe day. So I toldthe man to take me over again

,back to the

shelter of my tent andthe warmthof a b ig fire .

Then we emptied four chop - boxes and lashedthem t ightly tothe s ides ofthe canoe

,two abreas t ,

so as to form a kind of outrigger to give greaters tabil ity and s top the wobbl ing. We gave thisarrangement a trial trip withaheavy tent , mysel f,

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Lake Victoria to Khartoumany certainty as these animals move about intherains and seldom s top in one place . Thus thatroute was as good as any other, and moreoverthe scenery was most impress ive , and would wel lbear looking ata second time . Wehad travel ledthroughthe fores t land of the uplands ; wehadseenthe dark chocolate squares of incipient cultivation in bold rel ief against the gre en carpet atour feet ; wehad clambered down throughforestand crag to the lower level , and were encamped ,enjoying a wel l - earned snooz e while waiting forthe return of the bands of natives who werescouring the country round for spoor, when I wasawakened by a roughshake and the magic wordTembo (elephant) . The whole camp was s til l ,

and one man after another crept in l ike a mouseto tell me that aherd of elephants was wateringon the far s ide of the N ile. About eighteenof the great quadrupedshad come down to drinkand were clearly v is ible som e twohundred yardsaway. Old ones and young ones , cows and

calves , and a very fine bull withabout 8o- lb.

tusks . But— and itwas a very b ig but— theywere on the wrong s ide

,in the Congo . The

men knew I wanted just one more elephant to fil lup my l icence , so made no noise , but satopenmouthed , staring atthe mos t interesting and

impress ive s ight . The elephants drank and

bathed themselves by squ irting water over theirbacks

,as the river was too swift and deep there

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Bound for Khartoum Once More

to al low of their gett ing actual ly into it. One

youngs ter got it“ inthe neck ” fromhis mother,who beathim severely withher trunk for (presumably) being suchan ass as to venture tooclose to the roaring flood . He retired cres tfal len,

squeaking dismal ly. There was nothing to bedone but to look atthem , and itis a picture Ishal l never forget . My porters got more and

more disgusted atou r inaction as Ihad broughtthem all the way from Bombo

,and as theyhad

never been so far northin their l ives before, theycouldn’t be expected to know that the oppos itebank of the N il e wasn’t ours to play in as we

l iked , or to work ou r wicked wil l in byhav ing a

shot atsuchan apparently easy prey. As soonas theyheard that nothing was to be done , andthat there was no meat in s tore for them

,they

s ignified the ir disapproval by boots and whistles .

The peaceful picture over the way underwenta sudden change. I t was l ike a transformationscene . The elephants trumpeted and squealed ;they charged and rushed about ; trees swayedviolently to and fro ; bushes were smashed and

the grass was flattened out ; the elephants fled !Ihad benefited by the s ight

,but my entourage

thought me a fool . Who cares !Little worthrecording occurred onwards toGondokoro ; and as the journey thence bys teamer to Khartoumhas already beendescribed ,we wil l draw a veil over that as well .

251

Lake Victoria to KhartoumUganda is a fair sporting country , firs t rate for

elephanthunting. Shoot in the neighbourhoodof Gondokoro ; itisn’t worthwhile huntingfurther afield than some s ixty m iles from there .Don’t go to Uganda inthe rains . And las t, butnotleast , watchthe fever .

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Lake Victoria to Khartoumthe wetthey wil l be al lowed to curl themselvesup onthe floor of my tent afterwards .

A l l of a sudden,am idst thehowl ing ofthe gale ,

one of them said , Tembo ! (elephant) . I said ,“ Rot! Mind your own job ! ” S ure enough

,

when the s tormhad abated— as suddenly as itbegan— weheard the trumpeting of aherd inthedistance . This was splendid , as wehad ev identlys tumbled qu ite by chance upon their favouritewatering- place .

Next morning out went the scouts,and close

by came across elephant tracks , one of themapparently that of a goodishbull . A bull ’s tracksare very muchbigger and longer than a cow’

s,

and itis saidthe more crinkles there are onhis feetthe olderhe is . These crinkles , whichare largewarts

,are very clearly defined in dust

,as

,when

he l iftshis feet from the ground, the suction of

the air makes l ittle ridges of the dus t round theedge of these warts .

Well,off we went ; but itwas ev ident , after

somehours,that they were offtoo . Perhaps they

had seen ou r camp fires ; anyhow, they meantmov ing

,as all along their tracks were no s igns

,in

the shape of tel l - tale broken trees andbushes pulleddown

,of theirhav ing fed . There was very l ittle

dung either, as would be the case if theyhadgone qu ietly along. These are some ofthe s ignsone learns by degrees to read when trackinggame inthe jungle. Butour failure to overtake

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Further Experience s with Elephant

theherd d idn’t muchmatter,as where that was

there were probably others to be found . So Icontented myself witha cob for the pot , trustingthat natives would bring u s in news .

After d inner that night a d ishevelled savagerushed in,

withhis eyes s tarting out ofhishead ,saying that a bigherd of elephant washard atwork playing “ Old Harry ”

withhis patchofcultivation near by, and imploring me to go and

shoot them . He knew,sohe averred

,where

they lay up inthe daytime , so we puthim off t il lthe morrow.

He was qu ite right about elephanthav ingpulledhis place to b its , thoughthe bigherddwindled down to five

,but there were two bulls

in it,whichput matters on a better foot ing. We

s tarted awayhard on their tracks to one or otherof two places whichhe said were close toge ther,and whichhe would show u s . Things assumeda muchros ier tint whenthe tracks showed us thatthe smal ler bul l andthe three cowshad branchedoff and left the b iggest bull onhis own. I supposehe ‘had got ill- tempered andhad turned theothers out . This

,whatever the reason, was

splendid,as there was only the one to think

about . From the tracks we could see that wewere gaining uponhim . His dung was coveredwithmyriads of fl ies andwas qu ite warm to thetouchins ide

, whilst itbecame wetter as we wentalong. This told ushehad been to water after

255

Lake Victoria to Khartoumhaving torn up the cul t ivation,

whichmeant thathe was now onhis way to s leephis dinner off.Soonweheard a crashhal f-way upthehil l - s ide ,

whichhere formed somewhat of an amphitheatres lop ing down to the river. The guide s toppeddead . F i l l Another tearing, rending sound .

Henak ! Fok !

Then,having got the d irect ion, we saw

,three

hundred yards away , the branches of a smal l treeosc il lat ing wildly to and fro,

qu ickly fol lowed bya smash. That was good enoughtherehe wasatlast. Butwe waited for some ten m inutes

,

carefully scanning thehil l - s ide round this tree incase other bushes should be seen perform ing thesame antics

,whichwouldhave betokened the

presence of aherd .

Butno ! A l l else was s til l .I mayhere say that I think the only animal inthe jungle that the savage is real ly particularabout is the elephant ! this is by reason of thevalue of the tusks , rather than because theycons iderhim dangerous . Your gun- bearer in

the presence of elephants wil l take the greates tposs ible care of the direction of the wind , and

wil l descend to any detai l to leave no s toneunturned onthe s ide of caution to bring you upto the beas t unperce ived.

Nowthe real bus iness of the day began. Wemoved qu ietly forward inthe anima l ’s direct ionfor ahundred yards or so , taking uphandfuls of

256

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Lake Victoria to Khartoumseemed more likehal f anhour— up went the°

256, and down crashed the elephant. As qu ickas thought myhand shot behind me to grasp thecord ite rifle that I knew I should find shoved intoit. [Al l good gun- bearers are almost treading on

their master’s coat - tails However, there wasno need for it. The Mannl icherhad done itswork , andthe s trickenmonarchhad entered intohishappyhunting grounds . Qu ite a nice bulltoo, withtusks that turned outto s cale 85lbs .

ap iece . Nothing very wonderful , but above theaverage .My followers all rushed off to cal l the ir pa ls ,

and anyone they could raise in fact, notexclud ingwomen and children, to come andhelp cut thetusks out, and afterwards to j o in inthe wild orgythat would soon take place onthe field of battle.Theywould spend the whole night and part ofthenext day there cutting up , cook ing, and eating as

fas t as they could force the fleshdown the irthroats . I sawthe tusks cut outand started off

to camp in charge of one of my orderl ies ,hav ingduly dispensed “ backsheesh” to everyone whohadhad a finger inthe pie .

There was s t il l the other bull withthe threecows to account for . I got intohis tracks

,and

,as

they led rather in the direction of my camp,began fol lowing them up. Soon they turnedright round and led backwards rather towardstherecent scene of operations . Then they seemed

258

A GOOD BULL ELEPH ANTam s zttmg on /225 lzerza’ ontile edge of ea r

THE PLEAS ING RESULTS OF A GRAND DAY ’S SPORT( s ee page 2 72 )

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Lake Victoria to Khartoumthree o’clock in the afternoon. Judging by thesun- dried edges ofthe trackswe were notgainingonthe elephants , so itwas evident that theyhadgotthe funks on board and meant going. Ithought the matter over ! one elephant in a day

wasn’t so dusty ; we were notfar from camp ;

those we were pursuing would feed that eveningand probably notgo very muchfurther, as theyhadn’t seen a man ; itwas getting late ; I wast ired . Sohome was the order of the day , butto -morrow offered great poss ibil it ies .

To -morrowis notthe worstword inthe Engl ishlanguage . I t is synonymous withexpectancy ,and, accord ing to the old proverb, expectation isbetter than real iz ationwhen all is said and done .

The great thing is that to -morrow is always infront of one , whilst yesterday is past and gonewithits m istakes , or its j oys , or its sorrows ; butwho can tell what to -morrowmay bring forth!Round the camp fire that evening we were all

as happy as kings , measuring, weighing, and

cleaning the tusks , the orderl ies cracking jokeswiththe outs ide savages who werehav ing their“ tumm ies ” fil led withgood food , and imbibinglarge quantities of mevissa or native beer thathad opportunely appeared from nowhere in particular. My cook had surpassed himself inhonour ofthe occasion ; and talk about good wi l ltowards men,

Christmas wasn’t in itwithmy

camp that night260

ELE PH ANT COUNTRY . IN THE BUDONGA FOREST

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Lake Victoria to Khartoumdividing barrier between two big broad val leyswhichsloped downto the N ile , to see ifwe couldnotcut across the tracks of ou r intended v ictimson the way. This procedure would showus upwhichof these val leys the bul l andhis ladieshadtravel led , as they certainly could nothave crossedthe mountain- top .

Wehad found a path,andthe eastern sky was

jus t becom ing tinged withthe firs t faint flushofearly dawn, when from ou r right frontwehearda crack

,and then another. I turned round and

sawmy men withtheir fingers on their l ips . Is imply couldn’t believe ou r luck in finding theelephants so soon and so near — we were notyetmore thanhal f-way to the mountain. There wasno wind

, so we satdown andwaited t il l there wasl ight enoughto see to shoot, whils t one of thegun

- bearers d isappeared into the bushfor reconnoitring purposes . He was back in a twinkl ingwiththe welcome news that itwas a different lotto yesterday’s , namely, a big bull andtwo smal leronesWhat stupendous luck ! A bare forty -five

m inutes from camp ! The elephants were um

susp ic ious ly feed ing along a smal l watercourseon the oppos ite bank to me

,above the reeds

whichfringed its rocky edge . I t was an idealplace for a shot , as the khor was some fifteenyards wide only

,and practical ly impassable to

them where they thenwere .262

Further Experience s with ElephantWe gotinto position, and againhad to wa it

,as

there was a thick bushbetweenthe b ig one and

me , and itwas no u se making a no ise shifting toright or left on the shaky rock whichs l ippedabout ateachs tep we took . A puff of windcame from behind us , as usual withthe dawn,however, and thoughonly momentarywas enoughto “

settle ourhash. Up went their trunks wav inginthe air to locate the taint of ou r smell

,and

they began mov ing off ata fas t walk, shuffl ingalong inthe no iseless way that seem s so curiouscons idering the vast bulk of these unwieldybrutes . I covered an open space that they wouldhave to pass throughwithmy rifle — theheavyone nowas they were onthe move — andthe bigbull showed over the s ights . The barrel wasraised a shadehigher, and I lethimhave itinthehead , and downhe thumped on the spot .Number two, I thought , brought to book ! Butnotso ! He s taggered up again and bargedoff among the bushes and s tunted trees , smashingeverything to matchwood, reel ing to and fro l ikea drunkenman

, withthe other two— one in frontand the other behind him — trumpeting and

scream ing l ike lunatics athav ing the ir morningm eal upset .I t is best to draw a curtain over my frame

of m ind athav ing succeeded so beautifully inbotching the whole thing ; but curs ing was no

u se , and itwas better to get under we ighatonce263

Lake Victoria to Khartoumand followhim up. He was veryhardhitandm ight notbe able to travel far

,but onthe otherhandhe would be in a shocking temper, andthe

others would be on the gnz’ nine to givehim ahand inwarninghim of the proxim ity of danger.

Sowithout wasting a momentwe setoff towardsa tree onthe ris ing ground forwhichhe appearedto be making. On cl imbing this tree our orderlycould see nothing in the shape of an elephant

,

andwe were just going to cross the val ley ahead— here about a m ile broad— on the chance of

v iewinghim, when its truck me that itwould be

very muchsafer and, al thoughs lower, surer to geton their spoor and fol low itup rather than dashoffhaphaz ard onhis supposed l ine . I fhe wasbadhe m ight go down to the water, as theyoften do

,or if nothe m ight trekhard in any

other d irection.

I t was by the mercy of Providence that wedid strike their tracks

,as they went off in qu ite

the oppos ite way to thatwhichwehad supposedup one of the va l leys before mentioned . One

of my gun- bearers knewthe countryhere verywell , and informed me that this val ley led intoa enZ- a

’e- sae

,where the highmountain ridge

fel l abruptly to the river atone of its deepes tplaces , so that there was no chance ofthe animalsbeing able to wade across on the shal lows and

rap ids as they often do . He couldn’t understandit,he said , unless (andhere our drooping sp irits

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Lake Victoria to Khartoumoutnear by, and we m ight tumble over themunawares . We crept along, and Ihad just turnedround to whisper a question to one of my following, when ou ou r right I sawthe elephant ’shead s lowly toppingthe edge ofthe s tonyhollow,

ris inghigher andhigher ashe advanced towardsu s , flapp inghis great ears to and fro, the pictureof deject ion

, and ev idently total ly unconscious of

our presence . Thenhis tusks appeared , and Iknewhe was the right one . Every few s tepshes topped , looking firs t one way and then another,trying to make uphis m ind where to go. Thenhe turned broads ide on and showed the v ital spotinhishead . There was no m istake this time ,andhe measuredhis l engthon the ground . Ipaced the distance and found ittwenty- threeyards , and then gavehim an extra one into theback of thehead to make assurance doubly sure .

This was far better than Ihad atfirs thopedfor, as a wounded elephant usual ly goes for

m iles,andwehad bagged this one after two and

ahal fhours ’

work from camp, and about nineo’clock inthe morning . Of course , my firs t shothad madehim very s ick indeed , as I found on

exam ination that the bullethad only m issed thebrain by a very l ittle,hav ing penetrated the bonypart of thehead above it. I t was qu ite enoughtohave knockedhim down,

but I don’t knowthathe wouldhave succumbed to the effects .

Butwhere werehis two companions of the266

Further Experience s with Elephantmorning ! We heard no no ise as of othersrushing off. A thing to bear in m ind when one

is elephant shooting, is that poss ibly there are

others about, thoughthey may be invis ible ; so ,

when youhave shot one , don’thang about inadm iration, but go s traight on, sending anorderlytearing ahead to see andhear whathe can.

A t the top of the next rise— the country wasnowmuchcut up withbroad nullahs and broaderridges between— I meta naked savagewithroll ingeyebal ls , who imparted the j oyful tidings that ahugeherd was bl issful ly feeding down below.

This was a big thing, and no m istake !A s ingle elephant is pretty terrifying, but

a lznge herd ! Was he sure ! How many !“ A hundred ; not counting young ones !This meant, I expected , forty or fifty ; outthere were the nas ty cross old cows to takeinto consideration this time . However, therewas no use thinking til l we gotclose upto them . I brought my glasses into play ontheherd , and there they were , s lowly feeding acrossou r front

,making a great no ise the while ,

breaking off and stripping the branches preparatory to s tuffing the leaves into the ir mouths .

The val ley seemed al ive withthem . We satdown on a rock and watched them throughmyglasses pass ing alonghal f a m ile away. Yes !

There was a bull ; and another ; and then a

group of four females withthree young bulls ;267

Lake Victoria to Khartoumand then e ight cows and young in a bunch.Theyhad almos t gotpast , andwere very nearlyright for us to make the wind good .

Here ’s a better bull com ing now! ” from my

savage. Andwithout more ado the gun- bearerstook matters into their ownhands , and orderedme off onthe chase once more . We took infiniteprecaut ions . The savages were ~very carefulabout the elephants , as usual , that they should notget ou r wind . There is another thing to bear inm ind . Whenelephants are feed ing, whichtheydo whilst s lowly moving along

,itwil l be found

that the larges t bul ls , i .e . those carrying theheavies t tusks , a lways come last ; and as theyfeed up wind , itsuits one ’s book to a tick tofol low them on from behind in comparativesafety

, wel l inthe rear of theherd , til l one getsa clear shot atthe b igges t bull .On this occasion

,thoughIhad been sum

mari ly ordered to move up to theherd by mymen

,my retainershung about and waited for

ages , itseemed , til l they acqu iesced in my en

treaties to get closer. A t last , after muchapparently useless poking about

,they said

Com e on ! ” When once wehad s tarted againmyhead orderly turned and explained that whenelephant are feeding s lowly l ike this there m ightqu ite eas ily be some brute of a cow or youngindependent bul l lagging laz ily in rear or ontheflanks of theherd .

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Lake Victoria to Khartoumsavage , and I ran gasping atright angles to ourprevious course , and fel l behind the convenienttrunk of a forest tree , whils t the infuriatedmonster thundered onher way between me and

my orderly, stopp ing dead in another fifty yardsor so as there was no more human smell topursue. However, I hadheard of elephantshunting one — usual ly only ifwounded

,itis true

andwasn’t tak ing any, so, dec iding that this was

no place for me , turned round and fled backa long the way wehad com e , back in the direction of the mainherd , blowing a couple of blas tson my whistle as I went to a ttract the other men.

Theheat was stifl ing,and I m ighthave jus t

emerged from a Turkishbath, as what withfunkandthe total absence of breez e inthe grass I waswetfrom top to toe . Then we joined up and

collected ou r scattered wits,and I my shattered

nerves . The others took the whole thing as

a gigantic jest , as I did after a bit,thoughI wil l

own itprovided food for thought atthe time .

My followers were as keen as mus tard,not

wholly on account of the customary “ backsheeshwithWhichone rewards them for everyelephant s lain, but chiefly because of this lateepisode— being routed by a cow. One dashedoff after theherd , and returned withthe newsthat they were st il l peacefully feed ing, and thatthere was qu ite a good bull — bigger than thismorning’s — atthe tail of theherd .

2 70

Fu rther Experience s with ElephantI twas now about m idday , and Ihad recovered

my breath, so we went in pursuit . There wasnothing of an untoward nature to fear now

,as

any outlying animal wouldhave got our wind or

heard the no ise made by the infuriated cow longs ince and joined in our pursu it.There , sure enough, were several great big

bulls,but no tusks worthhaving. My informant ,

whom I knew d idn’t lie , ins isted that there wasa topper in theherd, so we m oved gradual ly onin their wake , in and outamongs t the trees , firs tone elephant appearing, and then moving off

qu ietly to be replaced by another, t il l the furthes tof a batchof s ix showedhimsel f ; then I saw

that the orderlyhad notm is informed me .

He was better than any Ihad shot up to date ,and evidently the patriarchof theherd . I t wasdifficul t to get a shot athim

,ashe was so su r

rounded byhis friends ; but atlasthe came outbroads ide on and gave me thehead shot, whichwas atonce taken advantage of. He fell to theshot

,and lay s truggling onthe ground trying to

get up. Immediately pandemonium ensued and

whilst I was reloading I d istinctly sawtwo bullssever themselves from the remainder

,and

, s tanding one on eachs ide ofhim ,

p ickhim up and

helphim off ashe s taggered along , throwinghisweight first on one and thenonthe other. How

ever,atabout thirty yards I managed tohithim

twice near the tail withmyheavy cordite rifle ,2 7 1

Lake Victoria to Khartoumandhe col lapsed never to rise again

,havinghadhis spinal cord severed .

His two friends looked round threateningly fora moment , as if in seem ing doubt whether tomake a bril liant charge inhis defence

,but

,prob

ably knowing instinctively that the ir pal wasdead, they decamped in chase of the trumpetingmob in front now fas t d isappearing in a cloudof dust .A fine old bul l this , andhis tusks proved to be

98 lbs . and 93 lbs . apiece .What a clay ! Two good elephants shot ; an

exc iting episode that m ighthave ended in a mostdisastrous manner, but luckily didn’t ; and someodd experiences in the irhabits , particularly thelast phase in witnessing a wounded bull be ingtaken away supported byhis two friends ; and

all this compressed into some eighthours !This would afford endless chat over my camp

fire . Butthe firs t thing was to get back there .

I t was far too late to dream ofhacking outthetusks of either animal that day, leave alone bothso, there being few, if any , natives about in thatpart, we decided to leave our victims , eachincharge of a couple of spearmen, that night, returnnext morning withplenty of people armed withaxes and country knives , and bring the fourtusks in together. I fthe neighbourhood is atallpopulous this is a dangerous plan

,because no

one knows the value of ivory better than the2 7 2

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Further Experience s with Elephantsavage , and the sound of the shootinghavingattracted them , they wil l wa it til l onehas gonehome , then setto work, andthe tusks wil l be faraway next day .

ButI wi l l cut a long story short by addingthat these particular tusks duly reposed underthe flag of my tent the following evening, thoughthe extracting of them proved ahotj ob underthe burning glare of the sun.

XX

BURCHELL’

S,OR WH ITE

RH I NOCE ROS

HAVE related the s tory of my first meetingwiththis redoubtable animal— antediluv ianI almost cal ledhim —when on my trip downthe N ile withChurchil l . A l l the way back

I tried and tried,andhunted in all the places

where white rhino were l ikely to be encountered ,and saw tracks innumerable , but never the brutehim self.On this journey I was put on to a new place

where one of this specieshad been seen beforeand left alone

,andhad s ince been seen again.

This sounded good enough, so I started outonefine day .

We trekked a long,following awel l -wornhippo

pathfrom the water ’

s edge, throughthick bush,gradual ly thinning outtil l we reached thehigherground about a couple of m iles from the N ile .

As this was ideal rhino country,Ihad extended

my orderl ies wel l on eachflank to keep a sharplook out. We disturbed numerousherds ofwaterbuck andUganda cob, but shortly before sundownhad to turn our face towards the camp without

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Lake Victoria to Khartouma l lowedhim to come qu ite close on account ofthe rap idly fail ing l ight

,andwhenhishead went

down to graz e,pulled the trigger so as tohithim inthe neck .

He fel l to the shot twelve yards away , got up ,spun round l ike a tee - to -tum , squeal ing bluemurder the while , and d isappeared in a cloud ofdust . I mus t have hithim too low on thehardes t and thickes t part ofhis forehead ashefaced u s , and sohe got off withl ittle worse thana badheadache .

Curses ! The a ir went blue for m iles ! I was ,of course , a double - dis til led donkey forhavingchanced a shot so late inthe evening ; but thenthe rhino m ightn’thave been there next day ,

you see ; andhe was so close. I honestly bel ieve mos t people wouldhave acted inthe samemanner, andhave tried their luck, ins tead of

leaving an animal they particularly wanted til la problemat ical to -morrow. There ’s many a s l ip ,however ; and itshowshow easy itis to m issone ’s mark inthe dusk , leave alone moonl ight

A t last atlas t l I am able to say that Ihavehadthe good fortune to bag a white rhino .

A fter many days ’

sweating and s laving ; aftermarchinghours ata time inthe vain endeavour ;afterhav ing been brought first- rate endear ; afterhav inghadthe two chances mentioned before.

2 76

White RhinocerosAt last When Ihad long given up the

idea as hopeless ; imagining that I was notfated to get one of these monsters ; that theyhad conspired amongst themselves to keep out ofmy way, even in their own favourite local it ies ;that if I wounded one , he would go on and

on, and thus wear outthe prescribed duration of

my stay . Every devicehad fai led, evenheavybribery of the nat ives , to find one for me til l

,as

I shal l now relate,in a most unexpected place ,

where the country roundhad beenharried and

thoroughly d isturbed in my pursu it of elephant,one appeared as if by magic under my verynose.Ihappened one fine day after tea to be pen

s ively s troll ing along withmy rifle— one neverleaves itathome under any circumstances— up a

smal l,rocky

,dry khor, fringed on e ither s ide by

dense thorn thickets on the tops of the s teepbanks . The chatter of the birds in the treesoverhead and the variedhues of their plumagehad kept me interested during my walk, and Iwas just poking about in searchof the lair ofa curious species of field-mouse, when crunch!crunch! round a corner in the nullahcame a

rhino . From the rid iculous to the subl ime !Hehad

,I imagine , been sauntering along on

his way to water witha deliberation equal to myown. Be this as itmay , we found ourselves faceto face some twenty paces apart . I was quite as

2 7 7

Lake Victoria to Khartoums tartled as he was . We s tood for fullyhal f a

m inute stupidly staring atone another beforehereal iz ed that I was a specimen ofhis swornenemy, man ; and I , thathe was one of the rarewhite rhinos .

The great brute,after pondering the matter

careful ly inhis dense, pig- l ike fashion,evidently

came to the , conclus ion thathehad little des irefor further acquaintance

, so turnedhis unwieldycarcase inthe narrowway . Ihad by this timegathered my scattered senses sufficiently to turnoff the safety - catchof the rifle

,and let drive at

his neck whichhe offered to my shot ashe turnedto d isappear. The bullet took immediate effecthe m easuredhis l engthonthe floor, and lay l ikeahuge dark boulder on the shimmering sand .

This was great good fortune, for, as Ihave said,all thoughts of white rhinohad vanished agesbefore , andthe luck in even setting eyes on one

was little oshortof s tupendous .

However, therehe lay in allhis glory. Whitebehanged — grey - black in colour

,instead of the

plain black ofhis Eas t African brother ; squarel ipped like a cow —the square lip ishis specials ign-manual and the owner of two nicehorns

,

the anterior one being 365inches . A trophy tobe proud of.Thehacking off of thehorns took some l ittle

while , so that by the t ime they were readytwil ight was beginning to fal l . Meanwhile Ihad

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Lake Victoria to Khartoumposedly onthe verge of com ing face to face withahuge anted iluvian animal atthathour inhisown fas tnesses !Immediately on my arrival

,the news spread

throughthe camp that there was a rhino to beeaten. My tent was besieged witheager porters ,notnecessarilyhungry, but all anxious to gettheir bit, whichbe ing interpreted meant that oncethey could get atthe carcase they would s tuffthemselves so ful l that allhope of a move onthemorrowwould be outof the question. Duringmy bathI was cons iderably bothered by them ,

whils t to shave was impossible t il l I told themwhere the carcase was .

I ’l l defy anyone to wieldthe old - fashioned raz or— none of your new— fangled gardenrakes forme

withsafety whilst a mob of savages are makingfacetious remarks about the operation. Thesavage can never make outwhy the white man

wastes sucha quantity of soap only to scrape itoff again.

Well , I told these gentry that the carcase wasa long way out , and that theyhad better wait til lthe morrow ; but, notwithstanding this , and theircustomary fear of being eaten up by som e nocturnal beast of prey, the camp was practical lydeserted that night

,and on my return to the

spot next morning,the s ight of these savages

baffles description. Suffragettes weren’t in itwiththem

280

White RhinocerosMeat in general appeals to the ir s tomachs , and

in spite of their all-night s itting I saw a sol idmass ofhalf-naked men flourishing long

,sharp

knives,yell ing

,shouting, and scream ing atthe

top of their voices,tearing

,hacking, andhewing

atthe bloody and d ishevelled carcase. Greatcoarse pieces of gory fleshwere being thrownabout— thehighly - priz ed stomachhad long s incevanished— knives dripp ing withblood weregleam ing and s lashing roundthe mangled remains

in the mos t dangerous way in every availablespot ; whils t som e of the company , whohad notbeen lucky enoughto retain a front seat atthisdelectable form of amusement

,were pushing and

trying to cl imb over or force a way under theirmore fortunate comrades in front. Others con

tented themselves withthrusting their long sharpweapons over the shoulders or betweenthe legsof their companions who were nearest

,them

selves drenched in blood and “ in’

ards fromhead to foot. Some were actual ly struggl ingmanfully ins ide the carcase itself.I f one’s s isters or one’s cous ins or one’s aunts

were to witness a scene l ike this , I would backthem to fly shrieking to the privacy of their tents ,there to tie themselves up and pray for mercy atthehands of these presupposed cannibals , whoseappetite for blood would , presumedly , be wel lwhetted by the time their orgyhad term inated .

2 8 1

XX I

WATERBUCK

COB US DE FASSA SING—SING

ARABIC ABU USUF.

HERE is only one variety of thisbeautiful buck to be found on theWhite N ile, the S ing - S ing. Wehave left the common waterbuck

(Coons ellyfiipr z'

mz'

ns) far behind u s in BritishEast Africa and far to the southwards ; so thereare no dreadful conundrums to be solvedhere asto whichvariety is which, or where whichisfound

,as may be said to exist amongs t some of

the other animals described.

Anyone whohas been out for a day withtheDevon and Somerset after the red deer on Exmoor would be immensely struck atthe extraord inary l ikeness in general colouring, as wel las in bu ild and shape, of the red deer to thisglorious buck ; and so atfirs t s ighthe should beunm is takable to the stranger. B utthere thel ikeness ceases , ashishorns are quite d ifferent ,spread ing s l ightly backwards and outwards , upand then rather towards one another ; thick and

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Lake Victoria to Khartoumback they wil l wander, qu ietly stroll ing down tothe water again.

You wil l usual ly find they are pol ite and par

ticu lar in always giv ing way to the ladies in

these daily process ions , for the s imple reasonthat the ruffianly old brutes take jol ly good careto send their wives and daughters along ahead topick up any dangerous l ion or what notbefore thedanger picks up them .

Theyhave very good eyes ight and can spot amov ing object a long way off

, whilst a whiff oftainted wind sets them off without muchchanceof their s topp ing for some l ittle way. However

,

after their firs t wild rushfor, say , fifty yards , thereis every poss ib il ity of one or other of them standing tohave another look and make assurancedoubly sure as to who or what you are . That isthe time ; so be sure and s tand qu ietly waitingfor that chance instead of running aim l ess ly aboutand getting short of breathand therefore shaky.

I f you should see a lot of females standingabout graz ing but no buck

,have a good look

all round and it’s ten to one you wil l findhimlying onthe shady s ide of a bushtil l itis t ime towake up . A s ingle buck feeding along or seendown atthe water wil l in all probab il ity be a

b ig one — muchb igger than those withfam il ies .

That facthas been corroborated t imes withoutnumber. This is the animal you want as yourspec imen— none of thosehal f- s iz ed

,undergrown

284

Waterbu ckothers . By the way ,

a waterbuck ’

shead is aptto be very deceptive whenyou are trying to makeup your m ind whichof two or three to shoot asbeing the b igges t . They are real ly dreadful lydifficult . Ahead, thick atthe base only

,that

does notcome in atthe tips is too young and

qu ite smal l ; ahead that seems b ig and whoset ips almost touchis qu ite smal l but thehead thatisn

’t too thick and whichhas s l ightly more thana semblance of trying to meet atthe tips is theone . A l l this sounds difficult , but itis worthremembering. The two formerheads wil l usual lybe found withthe does and kids the latter withperhaps two or three does , or more l ikely byhimself. Another thing ! you may often meet aherd of from fifteen to twenty bucks without as ingle doe . The smal les t of these wil lhave suchtinyhorns that anybody could see the ownerswould be quite unshootable and the larges twil l (judging by the smal lest) therefore appearto be carrying a tremendoushead. Don’t youbel ieve it! Leave the lot alone. I t is rathercurious , though, what sucha lotof bucks are all

doing together. Probably a few old s tagershaveappeared to two or threeherds atonce and givenallhis younger friends the order of the boot .He is found anywhere near any river inUganda

or on the N ile,and is metwithin qu ite extra

ordinary numbers on the Bahr - el- Zeraf in theS udan.

285

UGANDA GAME ORD I NANCEN o. 9 of 1 906

Game

I . This Ord inance may be c ited as“ The Uganda

Game Ord inance ,

2 . In this Ord inance The Protectorate means theUganda Protectorate .

Hunt,k ill

,or capture meanshunting,

k illing,or

capturing by any method,and includes every attempt

to k ill or capture .

Hunting ”includes molest ing.

Animal,

save ashere in e xpressly provided , meansmammals

,and birds otherthan domesticated

,butdoe s

notinclude reptiles, amphibia, fishes and invertebrateanimals.

Game means any animal ment ioned in any oftheSchedules.

“ Public Officer means a European Officer in thepublic service ofthe Uganda or East Africa or Zanz ibarProtectorates

,or onthe Superior Establishment of the

Uganda Railway , or an Office r of one of His Majesty ’

s

ships on the East African station,or a European

Officer inthe public service ofthe SudanGovernment .Native ”

means any native of Africa,notbe ing of

European or American race or parentage .

Settler ” means a person forthe time be ing res identin the Protectorate , notbe ing a public officer or a

native.

Sportsman means a person who visits the Pro286

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Lake Victoria to Khartoum

(2 ) Save ashere inafter provided no person shallcollect

,export from the Protectorate for sale , or shall

withinthe Protectorate sell,or purchase , or offer or ex

pose for sale any ostrichegg unlessthe ostrichhas beenkept in a dome sticated state .

( 3) No person shall knowingly store , pack , convey , orexport any animal, or any part of any animal or any

ostrichegg whichhehas reason to believehas beenobtained in contravention of this Ord inance .

(4) Ostricheggs, or any animal or anyheads,horns,tusks

,sk ins

,feathers

,or other remains of any animals

mentioned in any of the Schedules hereto shall beliable to forfe iture if theyhave been obtained in contravention of this Ord inance .

(5) Notwithstand ing anything contained in thissection any ostricheggs or anyheads ,horns, tusks,sk ins

,feathers , or other remains of any animals men

tioned in the Schedules may be sold inthe followingcases and underthe following cond itions

(a ) If they form part of the estate of a deceasedperson, by the Adm inistrator General or personal representative of suchdeceased person,withthe consent ofthe Court granting probateor administration, and on payment of suchfeeas the Court d irects

,notexceed ing 20 rupees .

(b) If theyhave been forfe ited,by order of the

Commissioner or of the Court by whichtheyhave been declaredto be forfe ited .

(6) In any sale under sub - section 5of this sectionpurchasers shall in every case be given a certificatespecify ing the articles and declaring that theyhavebeen lawfully sold under the provisions of this Ord inance , and suchcertificate shall be evidence that thepurchaserhas notobtained the articles in contraventionof this Ord inance .

288

Game Regu lations Uganda

(7 ) Nothing contained in this section shall preventthe sale

, purchase , transfer, or e xport of elephantivoryorhippopotamus tusks whichhave been obtained withouta contravention of this Ord inance .

(8) When any animal mentioned in any of theS cheduleshereto is k illed by acc ident, or when thecarcase or remains of any animal shall be found

,thehead

,horns

,tusks

,and feathe rs of suchanimal shall

belong tothe Government ;Provided thatthe Comm iss ioner may waive these

rights in any case ashe may deem fi t ; and,

Provided thatthe Comm issioner may d irectthe paymentto any person or persons so k illing or find ing suchcompensation as shall coverthe cost of transport of anyivory tothe nearest station and

,

May d irect rewards to be paid for the find ing of

ivory .

7 . ( I ) Save ashere inafter provided , any person foundin possess ion of

,or selling, transferring,

or exporting,or

attempt ing to sell, transfer, or export any male ele

phant’s tusk we ighing less than e leven pounds or any

female elephant’s tusk , or any piece s of ivory which, inthe Opinion of any officer engaged inthe c ivil adm inis

tration of the Uganda Protectorate , formed part of a

male elephant’s tusk under eleven pounds inwe ight, orof a female elephant’stusk , shall be gu ilty of an offence ,

and shall be liable to a fine note x ceed ing 1000 rupees

ortwo months’ imprisonmentof e ither kind , orto both,andthe tusk or parts of a tu sk shall be confiscated un

lessthe Comm iss ioner shall othe rwise order.

(2 ) Provided that the Comm iss ioner or any person

authoriz ed by the Comm iss ioner in that behalf may

possess , sell, or transfer withinthe Uganda Protectorateor may e xport from the Uganda Protectorate any ivorybelonging to the Government or confiscated underthe

U 289

Lake Victoria to Khartoumprovisions of this Ord inance or of any Regulation or

Ord inance repealed by this Ord inance .

( 3) All suchivory possessed , sold,transferred or

exported under the provisions of the lastpreced ingsub - section shall be d istinctively marked withsuchmark and in suchmanne r as the Comm iss ioner by

notice published inthe Offic ial Gaz ette may appoint .(4) The purchaser or transferee of any ivory so sold

or transferred under the provis ions of sub - section 2 of

this sectionshall lawfully possess suchivory andmay law

fully export suchivory from the Uganda Protectorate .

(5) The provisions of sub - section I of this sectionshall notapply to any ivory lawfully possessed by any

person atthe date of the publication of this Ord inance,

provided that suchivory shall within three monthsof the publicat ion of this Ordinance be produced or

sent to the neare stCollector who shall mark suchivory withsuchmark and in suchmanner as theComm issioner may appoint .8 . No person shall use any poison, or

,without a

spec ial license , any dynam ite or other explosive for

the killing or tak ing of any fish.9. Where itappears to the Comm issioner that any

me thod°

used for k illing or capturing animals or fishis unduly destructive ,he may ,

by Proclamation, pro

b ibit suchmethod or prescribe the cond itions underwhichany method may be used ; and if any person

u ses any m ethod so prohibited , or use s any methodotherwise than accord ing to the cond itions so pre

scribed,he shall be liable to the same penalties as

for a breachof this Ord inance .

10 . Save as provided by this Ord inance , or by any

Proclamation under this Ord inance,any person mayhunt

,k ill

, or capture any animal notmentioned in

any of the Schedules, or any fish.290

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Lake Victoria to KhartoumEvery license shall except ashere inafter provided be

in force for one year only from the date of issue .

Provided that a Public Officer’s license may be

granted for a s ingle period of 14 consecu tive day son payment of a fee of 30 rupees butno othe r suchlicense shall be issued to suchoffice r within a periodof twelve months from the date of issue of suchlicense .

Every license shall bear the name in full of thepersonto whom itis granted , the date of issue

,the

period of its duration,and the s ignature of the Com

m issioner, Collector, or other person authoriz ed to grantlicenses.

The applicant for a license may be requ ired to givesecurity by bond or deposit, note x ceed ingrupe es , forhis compliance withthis Ord inance

,andwith

the add itional cond itions ( if any ) contained inhis license .

A license is nottransferable .

Every license must be produced when called for byany officer of the Protectorate Government

,and any

licenseholder who fails without reasonable cau se toproduce itwhen called for shall be gu ilty of an offence

againstthis Ord inance .

In granting licenses under this Ordinance a C01

lector or any person authoriz ed to grant licenses shallobserve any general or particular instructions of theComm issioner.

1 3 . A Sportsman’

s license and a Public Officer’slicense respectively authoriz e theholder tohunt , k ill,or capture animals of any of the spec ie s mentionedin the Third S chedule

,butunless the license other

wise provides , notmore than the number of eachspec ies fi x ed by the second column of that Schedule .

The holder of a Sportsman’

s or Public Officer’slicense granted unde r this Ord inance may by thelicense be authoriz ed to k ill or capture add itional

292

Game Regu lation s ! Ugandaanimals of any suchspec ies on payment of suchadd itional fees as may be prescribed by the Comm issioner.

The Cominissioner may in spec ial cases grant, ata fee of 150 rupees , a Sportsman

’

s license to a person

entitled to take outa Settler’s license .

14. A Settler’s license au thori z es theholder tohunt,k ill

,or capture animals of the spec ies and to the

number mentioned in the FourthS chedule only .

15. ( I ) A Public Officer’s license shall notbe grantedexcept to a Public Officer, and a Settler’s license shallnotbe granted except to a Settler

,buta Sportsman’

s

license may be granted to a Settler.

(2 ) Theholder of a Settler’s or Landholder’s licensemay surrenderhis license and take outa Sportsman

’

s

license ; and in sucha case the sum whichhas beenpaid in respect of the surrendered license shall bededucted from the sum whichsuchperson wouldotherwise be requ ired to pay for a Sportsman

’

s license ;

provided that a Sportsman’

s license so granted shallexpire on the same date as that on whichthe sur

rendered license would have e xpired and that all

animals captured or killed under the surrenderedlicense shall count towards the animals whichmay be

captured or k illed underthe Sportsman’

s license .

16. Should theholder of a Public Officer’s licensecease to be a Public Officer duringthe currency of suchlicensehis license shall thereupon e xpire .

Providedthat ifthe personwhose licensehas expiredunder the provisions of this section alone take s outaSportsman

’

s license the sum whichhas been paid bysuchperson in respect of the license so expired shallif s uchperson so elects be deducted from the sum

whichhe would otherwise be requ ired to pay for a

Sportsman’

s license .

Provided that in suchcase all animals k illed under293

Lake Victoria to Khartoumthe license whichhas so expired shall count towardsthe animals whichmay be k illed under the Sportsman

’

s license,andthe Sportsman

’

s license shall e xpireonthe same date as that on whichthe original license

wouldhave expired iftheholderthereofhad continuedto be a public officer.

1 7 . A fourteen day license granted to a public officerwhohas previouslyheld a public officer’s license

,or a

public officer’s license granted to a person whohaspreviouslyheld a public officer’

s fourteen day license ,shall

,if taken outwi thin six months of the e xpiry

of the former license,authoriz e theholder to k ill or

capture suchnumber only of animals as,withthe

number k illed or captured unde rthe former license,will

make upthe number fixed for a public officer’

s license .

1 8 . When a license s im ilar to a Public Officer’slicense under this Ord inancehas been granted intheEast Africa Protectorate

,that license shall authori z e

theholdertohunt,k ill

, or capture game inthe UgandaProtectorate

,in all respects as i f the licensehad been

granted in the Uganda Protectorate , provided thatsuchlicense shall be first indorsed by a Collector or

other authoriz ed officer of the Uganda Protectorateprovided also that any authority to k ill or captureadd itional animals notperm itted underthe corresponding Uganda license shall be void .

19. ( 1 ) An occupier of land may take outa landholder’s license and may alsotake outa s im ilar license

atthe same fee for any person permanently employedbyhim in connectionwiththe land .

(2 ) The license shall only perm it game to be

hunted , k illed, or captured on the land of theholderof a license or ofhis employer whohas taken outthelicense .

( 3) The license willnotauthoriz e animals inthe F irst294

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Lake Victoria to Khartoum( 2 ) The Commissioner may by Proclamation order

any area inthe Uganda Protectorate to be closed forany period spec ified inthe Proclamation in respect ofthe k illing or capturing of any or all spec ies of wildb irds .

( 3) Any personwho shall k ill or capture or attemptto k ill or capture by any means whatsoever or who shallhave inhis possess ion any wild b ird captured in con

traventionof sub - section 2 ofthis sectionwithinthe areato whichsuchProclamation is applied and withintheperiod spec ified there in shall be guilty of an offence

under this Ord inance .

Provided that no person shall be liableto be convictedunderthe provis ions of sub - section 3 of this section forthe unlawfu l possession of suchwild bird i fhe sat isfiesthe Court before whichhe is charged e ither that(a) The k illing or capturing of suchwild bird

,if in a

place withregardto whichthe provisions of sub - section2 of this sectionhave been applied was lawful atthetime when and by the person by whom itwas k illed or

captured , or(e) The wild bird was k illed or captured in some

place to whichthe provisions of sub- section 2 of thissectionwas notapplied .

24. No person shall be entitled tohunt,k ill

,or cap

ture animals mentioned in the schedule s on privatelands inthe occupation of another person otherthanhisemployer, unlesshe is duly licensed underthe provisionsof this Ord inance .

25. Where itappears propertothe Commissioner forscientific or adm inistrative reasons

,he may grant a

spec ial license to any person,notbe ing a native ,to k ill

or capture animals of any one or more species ment ionedin any ofthe S chedules ; or,to k ill,hunt, or capture ina game reserve spec ified beasts or birds of prey , or other

296

Game Regu lations Ugandaanimals whose presence i s detrimental to the purposesof the game reserve ; or, in particular cases

,to k ill, or

capture , as the case may be ,in a game reserve , an

animal or animals of any one or more spec ies mentionedinthe Schedules .

The Comm iss ioner may , i fhethinks fit, grant a spec ial

license to any person E uropean or American, res identin any town s ituate in or near a game reserve

,to k ill or

capture specified bird s and nox ious animals in suchgame reserve or suchpart thereof as shall be defined onsuchlicense or otherwise .

A spec ial license shall be subject to suchcond itionsas to fees and security ( if any ) , number, sex , and age of

spec imens,d istrict and season forhunting, and other

matters,asthe Comm iss ioner may prescribe .

Save as aforesaid, theholder of a spec ial license shall

be subjecttothe general provisions of this Ord inance ,andtothe provisions relatingtoholders of licenses .

26. The Comm iss ioner may by rule prescribe theforms of licenses issued under the provis ions of thisOrd inance .

Every licenseholder shall keep a register of theanimals k illed or captured byhim inthe form specifiedinthe SeventhSchedule .

The Register witha copy thereof shall be subm ittedas often as convenient, butnotless frequently thanonce

in three months,to the nearest Collector or Ass istant

Collector, who shall countersignthe entries up to dateand retainthe copy .

Any person authoriz ed to grant licenses may atanytime call upon any licenseholderto producehis registerfor inspection.

Everyholder of a license must within 15days afterhis licensehas expired produce or sendtothe Collectorof the d istrict in whichhe resides the register, and

297

Lake Victoria to Khartouma copy thereof, ofthe animals k illed or captured byhimunderhis license .

If anyholder of a license fails to keephis registertruly orto produce itas requ ired by this sectionhe shallbe gu ilty of an offence against this Ord inance .

27 . The Comm iss ioner may revoke any license whenhe is satisfied thattheholderhas beengu ilty of a breachof any ofthe provis ions of this Ord inance or ofthe con

ditions ofhis license,orhas connived withany other per

son in any suchbreach,or that inany matters inrelation

theretohehas acted otherwise than in good faith.2 8 . The Comm issioner may athis d iscret ion d irectthat a license underthis Ord inance shall be refused toany applicant.

29. Any person whose licensehas been lost or destroyed may obta in a freshlicense for the remainde rofhis term on payment of sucha fee as the licensingauthority may fi x , notexceed ing Rs . 5.

30 . N0 license granted under this Ordinance shallentitle theholde rtohunt

,k ill

,or capture any animal

,or

to trespass upon private property withou t the consentofthe owner or occup ier.

3 1 . Any personwho, afterhaving k illed or capturedanimalsto'the number and ofthe spec ies authoriz ed byhis license

, proceeds tohunt, k ill, or capture any ani

mals whichhe is notauthoriz ed to k ill or capture , shallbe gu ilty of a breachofthis Ord inance .

3 2 . Persons inthe employment ofholders of licenses

may ,without license , ass ist suchholders of licenses in

hunting animals,butshall notuse fire - arms .

In any case of a breachof the provisions of this se c

t ionthe license of every licenseholder concerned inthebreachshall be liable to forfe iture

,and suchlicense

holder shall be gu ilty of an offence .

33 . The Comm issioner or any person authoriz ed by298

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Lake Victoria to Khartoumterms as to fees and other cond itions as the Comm iss ione r may d irect.36. ( I ) A Sub - Comm iss ioner may withthe approval

ofthe Comm iss ioner, grantto any native Chief a licenseto k illtwo bull elephants.

( 2 ) Suchlicense shall be subject to the cond itionsapplicable to licenses issued under this Ord inance

,and

the fee in respectthereof shall be I50 rupees .

(3) The ivory obtained from elephants k illed underany suchlicense shall be takento the nearest Government stat ion

,and there marked in sucha way that it

may be identified . Any person possess ing,buy ing, or

selling any suchivory whichhas notbeen so markedshall be gu ilty of an offence against this Ord inance .

(4) The Comm iss ioner may make rules as to thepersons by whom and the manner inwhichsuchivoryshall be marked .

37 . ( 1 ) When elephants are found doing damage toshambas

,and the owner or occupier thereof cannot ,

withthe means athis d isposal, drive them off, thenearest Chief may atthe request of suchoccupier k illnotmore thantwo of suchelephants .

(2 ) The destructionofthe elephants shall be reportedforthwithtothe nearest c ivil officer

,and the ivory shall

be taken andhanded over tohim . The Chief andtheowner of the shamba shall eachbe entitled to rece ive

suchproportion of the ivory as the Comm iss ioner may

d irect. The carcases of the elephants shall belong tothe owner of the shambas.

Legal P rocedure

38 . Where any public officer of the Uganda Pro

tectorate thinks ite xped ient for the purposes of veri

fy ing the register of a licenseholder, or suspects thatany personhas been guilty of a breachof any of the

300

Game Regu lations ! Uganda

provis ions of this Ord inance or ofthe cond itions ofhislicensehe may inspect and search

,or authori z e any

subord inate officerto inspect and search,any baggage ,

packages , wagons, tents , bu ild ing, or caravan belongingto or underthe control of suchperson orhis agent, andif the officer finds anyheads ,horns , tusks , sk ins , feathers ,or other remains ofthe animals appearingtohave beenk illed

,or any live animals appearingtohave been cap

tured, in contravention of this Ord inance,he shall se iz e

and take the same before a Magistrate to be dealt withaccord ingto law.

39. Save ashere inmentioned , any pe rsonwhohunts ,k ills

,or captures any animals in contravention of this

Ord inance , or otherwise comm its any breachof theprovis ions of this Ord inance or of the cond itions ofhislicense shall

,on conviction

,be liable to a fine which

may extend to 1000 rupees , and, where the offence re

lates to more animals thantwo, to a fine in respect ofeachanimal whichmay extend to 500 rupees and in

e ither case to imprisonment of e ither k ind whichmay

extendtotwo months,withor without fine ;

Provided that any personwho shoots,k ills

,or cap

tures or attempts to shoot , k i ll, or capture birds incontravention of this Ord inance shall notbe liable to a

fine of more than 100 rupee s nor imprisonment of e itherk ind exceed ing one month.In all cases on conviction any ostricheggs or anyheads

,horns

,tu sks

,sk ins

,or other remains of animals

found inthe possession of the offender orhis agent,and all live animals captured in contravention of thisOrd inance shall be liable to forfe iture .

If the person convicted is theholder of a licensehislicense may be revoked by the Court.40. Where in any proceed ing under this Ord inance

any fine is imposed , the Court may award any sum or

30 1

Lake Victoria to Khartoumsums notexceed inghalf the total fine to any informer

or informers .

4 1 . This Ord inance shall come into operation ontheFirst day of November 1906.

Repeal

42 . The following Regulations and Ord inances and

all Proclamations, Orders and Rules thereunder arehereby repealed .

The Game Returns Regu lations, 1900 (No.

The Uganda Game Regulations , 1900 (No .

The B irds ProtectionRegulations, 190 1 (No. 1 of

The Uganda Game Regu lations AmendmentOrd inance

,1903 (No. 9 of

The Uganda Game Ord inance,1903 (No . 1 3 of

The Uganda Game Ord inance , 1904 (No. 1 of

The Uganda Game Regulations Amendment Ord inance

,1904 (No. 10 of

The Game Ord inance , 1904 (No. 1 2 of

The Uganda Game Regulations Amendment Ord inance , 1905(No. 2 of

Provided as follows

( 1 ) Where any legal proceed ingshave been begununder the said repealed Regu lations or Ord inance s the same shall be continued as i f thisOrd inancehad notbeen enacted .

( 2 ) Any personwhohas before the commencementof this Ord inance committed any offence againstany of the said repealed Regu lations or Ord inances

,orhas comm itted any breachof any

cond itions prescribed on any license grantedthereunder shall be proceeded againstand punished as if this Ord inancehad notbeen enacted .

( 3) Licenses issued under the said repealed Regulations or Ord inances unexpired atthe com

302

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Lake Victoria to Khartoum

THIRD SCHEDULE

Animals , limited numoers of wkick may ke killed or

captured under a Sportsman’

s or P uklic Ofi cer’

s license.

Number

allowed.

1 . Elephant (male) 2

2 . Rhinoceros 2

3 . H ippopotamus ( except inthe following 10

d istrict in whichthey are notprotected)

1 . The River Nile .

2 . The shore s of the V ictoria,the

Albert,

and Albert EdwardLake s .

4. Antelopes and Gaz elles

Class AOry x (Gemsbuck or Be isa)Sable or Roan (Hippotragus)Kudu ( Streps iceros )Bongo (B oocercus E u ry cerus I saaci )Speke ’

s Tragelaphus (male)Impala (E pj/ceros )

Colobus or other fur monkey s .

Aard -V arks (Ory cteropus)Aard -Wolf (P roteles )Ostrich(male only )Marabou Stork (Leptopti lus)Egrets of eachspec iesAntelopes or Gaz ellesClass B

Any spec ies other thanthose inClass A IO

1 2 . Chevrotains 1 0

1 3 . Chimpanz ee 1

14. B uffalo (male) 2

H

T‘

QQSWN

QE"

H

Game Regu lations ! Uganda

FOURTH SCHEDULE

Animals,lim ited numkers of wkic/z may be killed or

captured under a S ettler’ s license.

Number

allowed.

H ippopotamus (except inthe following 10

d istricts in whichthey are notprotected)

1 . The River Nile .

2 . The shores of the V ictoria, theAlbe rt

,and Albert Edward

Lakes2 . The following Antelope s and Gaz elles only

( i) Grant’s Gaz elle .

( i i) Thomson’

s Gaz elle .

( i i i) Hartebeest.( iv) Reedbuck (Cervicapra) .(v) Du iker (Cepkalopkus ) .(vi) Klipspringe r (Oreotragus ) .(vi i) S te inbuck (Rkapkiceros ) .(vi i i) Waterbuck (Coous) .( ix ) B ushbuck (Tragelapkus Roualeyni ) .

Five animals in all in any calendarmonth, made up of animals of a s ingle

species or several ; providedhowever thatnotmore than ten animals of any one

spec ies shall be k illed during the periodfor whichthe license is available .

FIFTH SCHEDULE

B irds whichmay be shotunder a B ird License (subjecttothe provisions as to close seasons) .Any bird whichis notmentioned in any of the first

four Schedules.

x 305

Lake Victoria to Khartoum

SIXTH SCHEDULE

Game Reserves

1 . An area bounded by( 1 ) By the road , sk irting the Budonga Forest,

from Masind i to Butiaba.

( 2 ) By the shore of the Albert Lake to themouthofthe River Waja.

( 3) By the left bank of the River Waja from itsmouthto Kerota.

(4) By the Kerota Mas ind i Road .

The aforesaid area should be knownasthe BUDONGAGame Reserve .

2 . An area bounded( I ) By the right bank ofthe River Mpanga from

its mou thto its source .

( 2 ) By a straight line drawn from the source of

the Mpanga River to the source of theRiver DUKALA (Wasa) .

( 3) By the left bank ofthe River Dukala (Wasa)to its junctionwiththe Semlik i .

(4) By the right bank ofthe River Semlik i fromthe junct ion ofthe DUKALA (Wasa) Riverto the Congo F rontier

,thence following

the Congo Frontierto a point due west ofthe source ofthe River MUFUKU (Mabuku)and then by a straight line tothe source of

the River MUFUKU (Mabuku) .5) By the left bank of the River MUFUKU

(Mabuku) to its mouthin Lake RUISAMBAand thence by the northern shores of LakeRUISAMBAtothe mouthofthe Mpanga.

The aforesaid area shall be known asthe TORO Game

Reserve .

306

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SUDAN GAME REGULATIONS

AN ORD INANCE FOR THE PRESERVATIONOF W ILD ANIMALS AND B IRDS

tis kereby enacted as follows

SkortTitle and Commencement

1 . This Ord inance may be c ited as the PreservationofWild Animals Ord inance 1903 and shall commenceimmed iately .

Repeals

2 . The Preservation of Wild Animals Ord inance190 1 ishereby repealed except in so far as itrepealsformer Ord inances .

Interpretation

3 . In this Ord inance , unless there be somethingrepugnant inthe conte xtThe words Hunt

,

”Capture ,” “Kill

,and Injure

include re spectively attempting or aid ing tohunt,capture , k ill, and injure .

The words the “ L icensing Officer denote any

Officer authoriz ed by the Governor General to grantlicenseshereunder.

The word “ notified means notified inthe S udanGaz ette.

The words “ This Ord inance include any regulationor matter not ified or prescribed under the provisions

of this Ord inance and for the t ime be ing in force .

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Game Regu lation s ! Sudan

Classification of Animals and B irds

4. ( 1 ) For the purpose of this Ordinance WildAnimals and B irds are d ivided into four Classe s ,hereinafter called respectively Class 1

, Class 2 , Class 3 , and

Class 4.

( 2 ) Class 1, Class 2

, and Class 3 shall comprise theanimals and b irds specified in Part I , Part I I , and PartI I I respect ive ly ofthe first schedulehereto.

( 3) Class 4 shall include all wild animals and birdsnotcomprised inthe said last schedule .

(4) The Governor General may atany t ime by noticepublished inthe S udan Gaz ette remove any animal or

bird from any class,or include any animal or bird in

any class .

Certa inAnimals and B irds Absolutely P rotected

5. ( I ) No person other than a native of the Sudan,whethertheholder of a licence or not

,shall k ill

,injure

,

or capture any animal or b ird included in Class I .

(2 ) Any person k illing ,injuring, or capturing any

animal or bird in contravention of this section shallbe liable to a fine notexceed ing £E . 100 or to im

prisonment for a period notexceed ing three months .

I ssue and P rovis ion of Licences

6. ( I ) Licences for thehunting,capturing, and k ill

ing of wild animals and birds included in Class 2 and

Class 3 respectively may be granted by the LicensingOfficer inhis d iscre tionto any person applying forthesame . Suchlicences shall be of two k inds calledrespectively Licence A and L icence B .

( 2 ) No person other than a native ofthe Sudan shallhunt, capture , or k ill any animal or bird included inClass 2 unlesshe is theholder of a Licence A .

( 3) No person other than a native ofthe Sudan shall309

Lake Victoria to Khartoumhunt

,capture , or k ill any animal or b ird included in

Class 3 unlesshe is theholder e ither of a Licence Aor of a Licence B .

(4) Noholder of a licence shall during the currency

of one licence capture or k ill a greater number of

animals or b irds of any spec ies included in Class 2 or

Class 3 thanthe number specified inthe firs t Schedulehereto Opposite tothe name of suchspecies.

(5) The Governor General may atany time bynotice inthe S udan Gaz ette alter the number of any

spec ies of animal or bird included in Class 2 or in

Class 3 whichmay be captured or k illed by theholder of a licence .

(6) The annual fees payable by theholders of thesaid licences shall be as follows !

1 . When issued to an Officer or Official of the BritishEgyptian or Sudan Governmentserving in Egyptorthe Sudan or subjectto approval of the Governor

General to any person ordinarily residentin theSudan or intending ordinarily to reside there .

Licence A £E . 5Licence B £ 13. I

2 . When issuedto any other person.

Licence A £ E . 40

Licence B £ 12. 5

Everyholder of a Licence A obtained atthe £E . 5rate shall also pay to the L icensing Officer a fee of

£13 . 10 for every elephant k illed byhim under suchlicence .

(7 ) Every Licence A and L icence B shall (e x ceptin the case of the temporary Licence Bhere inaftermentioned) remain in force for one year from thedate of issue and shall then expire .

( 8) The acceptance of a Licence A or Licence B

shall beheld to constitute an agreement by theholder3 10

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Lake Victoria to Khartoumthe d iscretion of the L icensing Officer for one or more

days ata daily charge of RT. 25.

( 1 3 ) Any person k illing,injuring or capturing any

wild animal or bird in contravention of sub - sections(2 ) or ( 3) or (4) of this section or refus ing to producehis licence or suchaccount as aforesaid when calleduponto do so or producing an incorrectaccountshallbe liable to a fine note x ceed ing £E . 100 orto imprisonment for aterm note x ceed ingthree months .

Exceptions

7 . Notwithstand ing anything in this Ord inance con

tainedthe owner or occupier of any cu ltivated land or

any person authori z ed byhim may capture , injure or

k ill any wild animals or birds caus ing serious damage

tohis property i f suchdamage cannot otherwise beaverted

,and notwithstand ing anything in this Ord i

nance contained no person shall be deemed tohavecomm itted an offence under this Ord inance by reason

ofhishaving k illed or injured any animal in defence of

himself or any other person.

Class I V

8 . Any person mayhunt, capture or k ill any of theb irds and animals included in Class IV .

R zgkts of Natives of tbc S udan

9. ( I ) Licences forthehunting,capturing and k illing

of a spec ified number of animals and birds included inClass 1 may be issued in spec ial cases to natives of theSudan only . Eachsuchlicence shall be issued only

withthe approval of the Governor General, and shallbe known as Licence C. The fee payable in respect ofa Licence C shall be dec ided by the Mud ir of theProvince inwhichitis issued .

3 1 2

Game Regu lations ! Sudan

(2 ) No nat ive of the Sudan notbe ing aholder of a

Licence C shallhunt,k ill or capture any animal or bird

included in Class I .

( 3) No native of the Sudan shall employ any fire

arm inthe pu rsu it of any animal or bird included inClass 1 or Class 2 or Class 3 whether suchnative shallbe theholder of a L icence C or not.(4) Subjectto the above re strictions any native of

the Sudanmayhunt, capture and k ill any wild animal

or b ird .

5) Any native of the Sudan acting in contraventionof sub - section 2 or 3 of this section shall be liable to a

fine notexceed ing LE . 10 or to imprisonment for a

period notexceed ingthree months .

(6) Any native of the Sudanwho is found in possess ion of any animal or bird included in Class 1 living

or dead,or of any part of suchanimal or b ird shall be

deemedtohave k illed or captured suchanimal or birdunlessthe contrary be shown.

S ale of Hides , Horns,etc.

,of Certa inAnimals

1 0. ( 1 ) The sale and purchase of thehides ,horns orfleshor of any trophies of any ofthe animals and birdsincluded in the second schedulehereto is absolu telyprohibited inthe S udan.

( 2 ) No person shall expose or offer for sale or collector keep for trade purposes any suchhide s ,horns , fleshor other trophie s .

(3) Any personacting in contraventionof this sectionshall be liable to a fine notexceed ing £E . 10 or toimprisonment for a period notexceed ingthree months,and all suchhides

,horns and trophies so purchased or

sold,or offered for sale or collected for trade purposes

shall be liable to confiscation.

(4) Any person found in possession of any such3 13

Lake Victoria to Khartoumhides,horns , fleshor trophies shall be deemed tohavecollected the same for trade purposes unless the con

trary be shown.

D uties onHides P ermittedto be Sold1 1 . ( 1 ) The sale and purchase ofhides

,horns, flesh

and othertrophies ofwild animals and birds other thanthose mentioned in the second schedule hereto are

perm itted inthe Sudan.

( 2 ) The following ad valorem duties shall be paid inrespe ct of any suchhides

,horns, fle shor other trophies

brought into the princ ipal town or village of any

Mud iria or Mamuria for purposes of trade or exportedfrom the Sudan !

On elephantorhippopotamushides 2 0 per cent.On all otherhides or skins and the flesh,horns or othertrOphies of any animal or bird comprised inthis sectionI O per cent.

3) All suchhides, fle sh,horns andtrophies broughtinto any suchtown or village as aforesaid shall bedeemed to be broughtthere for the purpose of tradeunlessthe contrary be shown.

(4) The said duty shall only be paid once in respectof eacharticle and every offic ial re ce iving paymentof suchduty shall if requ ired give to the person

mak ing suchpayment a pass whichshall authoriz ehim to take the article in respect of whichdutyhasbeen paid into any other place without paying any

further duty .

(5) Theholder of a licence issuedhereunder shallneverthele ss notbe liable forthe said duties in respe ctofthe export ofhides,horns or othe r trophies obtainedbyhim underhis licence and any travelle r leaving thecountry will be perm itted to take withhim free of the

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Lake Victoria to KhartoumSouthby the Baro Rive rto its junctionwiththe SobatRiver and then by the Sobat Riverto its junctionwiththe White Nile and onthe West bytheWhite Nile shallbe a sanctuary for game withinwhichno person otherthannatives ofthe Sudan resid ing inthe said sanctuaryand Officers and Offic ials stationed in the same andhaving a special perm itendorsed on the ir licence shallhunt

,capture or k ill any wild animal or bird .

( 2 ) From and after the date of this Ord inance thed istrict bounded onthe Northby a line from Jebele into Karkoj on the East by the B lue Nile betweenKarkoj and Famaka on the Southby a line drawnfrom Famakato Kaka andthe West by the White Nilebetween Kaka and Jebele in shall be a reserve withinwhichno person other than natives of the Sudanres id ing there in and personshaving a spec ial perm itendorsed on the ir licences shallhunt, capture or k illany wi ld animal or b ird . Suchspec ial perm it shall begranted atthe d iscretion of the Licensing Officer and

only to persons re sid ing inthe said D istrict, to Officersand Offic ials of the SudanGove rnmentandto Officersand Offic ials of the Britishand EgyptianGovernmentsserving inthe Sudan.

( 3) The said boundary lines between Jebele in and

Karkoj and between Kaka and Famaka shall behereafter more particularly defined by a notice issued intheS udan Gaz ette.

(4) Any person acting in contravent ion of thissection shall be liable to a fine notexceed ing £E . 100

or to imprisonment for a term notexceed ing threemonths .

Local Extentof L icences

14. Subject to the provis ions of the last preced ingsection every L icence A or L icence B shall be valid

3 16

Game Regu lation s ! Sudanthroughout the Sudan save that no licence shall bevalid in any part of the S udan to whichunder any

Ord inance or Regulations for the time be ing in forceitis unlawful for the licenceholder to proceed and

that no licence shall be valid in any partof the Sudanto whichspecial perm ission is requ ired unless endorsedto that e ffect by the authority by whichsuchperm iss ion is granted .

Ostr iclc Eggs notto be removed15. ( I ) No person whetherhe is the holder of a

licence or notshall remove or d isturb or injure theeggs of an ostrichor of any other b ird whichmay from

t imeto time be notified without the written perm issionof a Licensing Officer.

Skooting f rom a Steamer forbidden

( 2 ) No person shall shoot from a steamer e ither atrest or in motion atany bird or atany animal exceptthe lion, leopard and crocod ile .

P oison and Explosives notto be used onF isk

( 3) No person shall u se any poison or dynamite or

any other explosive forthe tak ing of any fish.P enalties

(4) Any person acting in contravention of thissection shall be liable to a fine note x ceed ing £E . 5or

in defau lt of payment to imprisonment for a term notexceed ing one month.

Special Licences for S cientific P u rposes

16. ( 1 ) The Governor General or any Officer authoriz ed byhim may by special endorsement on a licence

3 1 7

Lake Victoria to Khartoumpermitthe capture of a stated number of animals and

bird s included in Class I .

( 2 ) The Governor General may d ispense from theobservance of suchsections of this Ord inance ashethinks proper except sub - section 1 of section 1 3 any

personwho requ ires suchd ispensation for the purposeof sc ientific study .

( 3) Any perm ission or d ispensation givenhereundermay be withdrawn atany time .

Confiscation of Cow and small I vory

1 7 . A ll cow ivory and elephant tusks we ighing lessthanten pounds , or suchother we ight as may be notified from time to time is liable to be confiscated andmay be se iz ed by any Magistrate , Police Officer or

Officer engaged in the Civil Administration withoutadjud ication of confiscation subjectto a right of appealtothe Mud ir orto a Magistrate ofthe I stor 2nd Class

againstthe confiscation.

P owers of Governor General

1 8 . ( 1 ) The Governor General may from time totime

by notice published inthe S udan Gaz ette exercise all orany ofthe following powers (that isto say )

(a) Notify or prescribe any matter whichis leftbythisOrdinance to be notified or prescribed.

(b) Declare a close time or close times during whichany wild animal or bird specified in suchnoticeshall notbehunted, captured or killed, nor thefleshthereof sold or offered for sale.

(c) Forbid or restrictthe u se of nets, pitfalls or otherdestructive modes of capture.

(d) Extend or lim itany of the provisions of thisOrdinance so as to include therein or excludetherefrom any wild animal or bird specified in

suchnotice .

(e) Revoke, alter or suspend any suchnotices.

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Lake Victoria to Khartoum

THE FIRST SCHEDULE

PART I

Class 1 .- Animals and b irds whichmay notbehunted

, captured or k illedGiraffe . Ostrich.Rhinoceros. Shoe - bill (B alaeniceps ) .W ild Ass . Ground Horn B ill (B ucorax) .Zebra. Secretary B ird (S erpentar ius) .

PART I IClass 2 .

-Animals and b irds a limited number of

whichmay be captured or k illed by theholder of an

A Licence , and the number authoriz ed of any one

spec ies

Mrs . Gray’

s Water Buck (Cobus Mar ia)Elephant.Eland ( Taurotragus )Kudu Streps iceros )

!H ippopotamus

B uffalo

RoanAntelope (H ippotragus)Oryx Be isaWater B uck (Cobus Defassa)B ushBuck ( Trag elaplzus)Reed B uck (Cervicapra)Jackson’

s Hartebeest (Bubalis j acksoni ) .Tora Hartebeest (B ubalis Tara )Oryx Leucory xAddaxWhite - cared Cob (Cobus Leucotis )Addra Gaz elle (Gaz ella Ruficollis )

There is no lim itof the number ofhippopotamus

whichmay be captured or k illed Southof Fashoda.

QQQQ-h-P

-h-b

-b

-b

-P

-h-hwwwa

320

Game Regulations ! Sudan

PART I I IClass 3 .

— Animals and b irds a lim ited number of

whichmay be captured or k illed by theholder of an Aor B Licence andthe number authorised of any spec ies

IbexWild SheepPelicansEgretsHerons

S torksMaraboutSpoonbillsFlam ingoes

IbisCrowned Crane

! Wart Hog! Large Bustard9K‘Tiang! Other Antelopes and Gaze lles notbefore

specified in this schedule (eachspecies) 1 2

”A Licenceholder on a trip of more than threemonths’ durationmay shoot four more of eachof thesefor food in every add itional month.

THE SECOND SCHEDULE

Animals and birds in respect of whichthe sale or

purchase ofthehides ,horns or fleshor other trophies isprohibitedAnimals and birds in Hartebeest.

cluded in Class 1 . White - eared Cob.

Mrs . Gray’

s Water Buck . Water B uck.

Kudu . Oryx.

RoanAntelope . Ibex .

Lake Victoria to Khartoum

THE THIRD SCHEDULE

E xport Tax on Living Animals

Each£E . 24.

Elephant. Rhinoceros . Giraffe .

Each£E 1 0 .

H ippopotamus . White - eared Cob .

Bu ffalo. Hartebeest.W ild Ass . RoanAntelope .

Zebra. Oryx .

Water Buck . Addax .

Mrs . Gray’

s Water Buck . Kudu .

Eland .

Each£E . 5.

Addra Gaz elle . W ild Sheep.

Ibe x . Balaeniceps.

Each£E . 5.

Ostrich. Secretary B ird .

Each£E . I .

Leopard . Cheetah.NOTICE

D istr icts Closed to Travellers

W ithreference to the notice as to Passports and

reporting for Europeans and Fore igners published inthe S udan Gaz ette of the I stAugu st, 1903 , No. 50 ,

page 99, His E x cellency the Governor Generalhasbeen pleased to order as follows

( 1 ) Europeans and Fore igners notbe ingtraders , travelling for the purpose of pleasure or sport SouthofKhartoum or inKordofan

,whohave a subsisting game

licence,need notobtain a pass from the Secretary

Generalunless they enterthe d istricts mentioned below.

322

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INDEX

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Borassus palms, 24, 30, 95Bougainvillea, 1 1

Boyle, A . G., 67 , 7 8

B ritishEastAfrica, 36, 239Mr . Churchill in, 65

B udonga Forest, 25, 306game reserve

,2 25, 2 27 , 23 1 ,

306

Buffalo,1 70, 2 19, 2 29

protection of, 303, 304, 3 20,3 2 2

Bugungu. 40. 43. 87. 2 25. 23 3BukedI

, the , 80B ulbul

, the , 1 88Bushbuck, in pursuitof, 1 72 — 8,2 26howtohunt, 1 76warns elephants of danger,199

protection of, 305Bu sib ika

, plains of, 2 1 , 23B usiro, 307Bustards

, 32 1

B utiaba, 306N ile flotilla from, 87 , 1 89,195, 2 24, 2 25route to, 25— 7

Butterfl ies, 2 19Bwanuka, 307

Cairo, 62 , 1 19Cameron, Captain, 10 1Camp equ ipage , 4Cannas

,25

Cape buffalo, 2 29Cape lilac, 25Castor - oil plants, 73Ceylon, xiiCheetah, the, 32 2Cheops, Pyram ids of, 63Chevrotain

, 303 , 304Chili bushes

, 73Chimpanzee , 304Churchill, M.P . , Rt. Hon. Winston Spencer, 1 35, 140, 249,

.

l'llS tribute to Captain D i ckInson, v

— vi

reminiscences ofhis trip, vi3 28

IndexChurchill, M.P. , Rt. Hon. Winston Spencer,his m ission inEastAfrica, 65leaves Entebbe, 66routeto Kakindu , 66— 7 8

greeted by Dosa, 80cycles to Gondokoro, 8 1on Socialism , 8 1

celebrateshis b irthday, 84bags a white rhinoceros , 8893; 2 74di sappomtments ofthe chase,93. 103enterta ined atN Imule

, 94trekto Gondokoro, 94— 8 , 1 00

shootstwo cob , 103reaches Khartoum,

1 04explains the battle of Om

durman,1 32

ChurchMissionary Society,Nam irembe

,15

Cleopatra, 35Clothier, Lieut. , 7 7Cob . S ee White -cared and

Uganda CobColoss i ofAbu Simbel’s Temple ,60

Congo mountains, 2 8, 36, 43, 49,

marchin, 240 - 6

Convolvulus, 45, 1 79Coolies, chantof the , 13 , I 4Cormorants , 38, 56Cottonplants, 73 , 1 83Crane , crowned, 303 , 3 2 1Crocodiles, 57 , 88 , 1 79, 247 , 3 1 7where to shoot, 9atthe Ripon Falls, 38atthe Murchison Falls, 42

Dal, 151

Dante’s Inferno, 42Darters, 56Date palm s, 60, 202

D eer stalking in Scotland, 194Dervi shpower, far- reaching, 35

overthrow of, 35, 1 32strongholds of, 50, 51

Dhurra, 32 1 46) SI , 97 1 98

IndexD ick,”the dog, 2 35, 248D ickinson, Captain F . A.,

Mr.

Churchill’s testimony to,v— vn

on the advantages of historical knowledge , ix, xofficer in charge of Mr.

Churchill’s escort, xi, 65, 67impressions of Khartoum , xi,1 1 8—

39onhis lucky career, xiib ig game shooting, 89, 90 ,shoots a cob , 106, 108bagshis firstUganda ele

phant, 109— 13lionhunting experiences, 143,shooting roan antelope, 14852

D ik -dik, 198, 2 13DOI palms, 57 , 58 , 2 1 8Dongola, 59Donkeys in Khartoum, 1 25Dosa greets Mr. Churchill, 80Duck, 78Dufile, 48, 190, 241

Duiker, 305Dukala river,the, 306Dule ib palms, 44, 49, 1 83

EastAfrica, journey from, 1 1

Eden, Mr. , 94Edward V I I , coronationof, 16

Edwards , CaptainandMrs . ,190

Egrets, 304, 3 2 1EgyptianArmy. 1 3 1 , 1 34. 2 39

stores, 1 2 7Egyptian railway, 35Egyptian stay -at-homes, 34E land, 303 , 320, 32 2El Due im, 58El Edde iya, 323E lephants, bulls’ solitaryhab its ,Colonel Wilson encounters ,891 9I

encounter w1tha cow, 236— 8,269

Elephants,hunting experiencesof, v, 6, 90 , 1 09

— 1 3 , 1 15- 171902 198 " 2° I ’ 253- 7 3killsMr.Wright’s gun-bearer,100

protection of, 26, 1 16, 2 3 1—

3 ,

Semlik I, 1 15, 1 78tusks, 1 13 , 1 16, 190, 2 32 , 242 ,Unyoro, 1 16, 1 78, 2 30where to meet, 3 1 , 448 1 , 83 , 1 80 , 1 86, 192 , 2 33250whereto shoot, 4- 8, 1 14, 257

Elephantgrass , vi, 10,1 7 , 19,

El Obeid, 58Emin Pasha, x, 35, 88 , 191tree of, 47

Entebbe , 230, 303, 307capital of Uganda, 1 1 — 13Mr. Churchill at, 66

Euphorbias, 45, 50, 7 3Famaka, 3 15Fashoda, 323Fatiko, 2 8 , 1 47Fever, attacks of, 1 3, 54, 7 7 ,198

F ield-mice, 2 77F ig trees, 1 83F inches, grass, 23F ishbourne , Lieut. , 67 , 88Flamingoes, 32 1

F lint,Captain, 94

Fola rapids, the, 30, 48, 49, 50,204

FortB erkley, 53Fowe ira, 25, 39, 4 1

Game Reserve ,the, 26, 58, 140,Game i za, 54, 55, 1 7 2Garrod, Captain, 1 00Gaz elles , protection of, 303

— 5where to shoot, 9

GermanEastAfrica, 36

329

IndexGhizeh, 62Giraffe,herd of, 161protection of, 303, 320, 322

Gisi Hill, 84Gnu, 303Goldie , Dr .

, 67 , 7 1 , 100

Gondokoro, 1 1 , 1 8,29, 36, 53 ,

147. 1 8 1 . 1 82. 2 1 2. 239. 244.251s ituationof, 3 , 4marshes of, 18roadto, 30- 2

Mr. Churchill at, xi, 8 1 , 94,98, 100

roanantelope at, 152Good Intent, 86Gordon, General, 1 20, 1 23GordonCollege, Khartoum, 1 23 ,1 25

Greektraders, 1 2 3 , 1 30Ground Horn B ill, 320Ground nuts , 7 3 , 96Gu inea- fowl, 10

, 79, 103, 141 ,

Haboob,” a, 1 24Halfa, 59Halfaya, 1 26Harries, Lieut. , 7 7Hartebeest, 3 1 , 93, 153, 169,

experience ofhunting, 192 ,193

protection of, 305, 320, 322Hawks, 162Henley, 261Herons, 45, 32 1Himalayas,the , 2 2Hipp0potarnus.v. 46. 51 . 57. 87.

whereto shoot, 9trials of hunting, 204

— 10,

2 33— 5

protection of, 304, 305, 307 ,

Hoima,2 1

,25, 1 7 7 , 2 23— 5

Hornbills, 1 3, 26Hydrangea, 1 1Hyenas, 32

Ibex, 32 1Imbarara, 2 1 2

Impallah, 105, 154India, sandstorms in, 1 24Indian corn, 19Intallaganya, 26, 197

j ames Martin, 86Jebel Achmed Aga, 58, 152 , 154Jebel Meto, 50Jebel Surgam, 59, 1 32Jebel Zeraf, 161Jebelein, 3 16Jena, 2 2J inja. 36. 66. 7 2Johnston, Sir Harry, on theSesse I slands , 1 2

Kabaregas,the, 40Kafu river,the, 24, 79, 106, 1 16,Kago, James , 86Kagwa, Sir Apolo, 16Kaka, 3 15, 3 16Kakindu, 38-40, 76

Kampala, the old capital of

Uganda, 1 3— 1 7 , 66, 1 77 , 2 24Kanz a

,

”the, 16Karkoj, 3 16Karnac, 62

Karpetta river,the, 1 85Karuma rapids,the, 39, 4 1Kasr- el-nil

,63

Katik iro ”of Kampala, 16

K enz’

a, 29, 86

Kenyi’s , 1 85

Kerota, 306Kerreri Hills, 1 28 , 1 32Khalifa, the, 59, 1 20, 1 2 8

expoundsthe Koran, 1 28Khartoum , 34, 58, 322description of

,1 18, 1 2 2 - 7 ,

1 38donkeys in, 1 25Gordon College , 1 23 , 1 25Mr. Churchill at

,xi

,104

north,1 24, 1 26

palace of, 1 20 — 2,

1 36

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IndexMohammedan soldiers, 100Mokattamhills,the, 62Mongalla, 54, 2 1 2Governor of, 10 1

Monkeys, 44Colobus , 2 7 , 304

Moru, the, 242Mosqu itoes, 54, 141 , 157 , 2 19,

MountE lgon, 4, 39Mpanga river,the , 306Ma l" , 4g

241 252 391 401 792 106M’

samb Iatrees, 26Mudiria, 3 14, 3 19Munyonyo, 16, 66Mupuku river,the, 306Murchison Falls, the , 25, 2 8, 40position of, 41

—

3Mr. Churchill at, 83 , 85— 7

Murray, Mr . , 2 26

Muyu,hill of, 244M’

vulitrees, 26Myanja river,the, 2 3, 1 78Myoro, 80

Nairobi , 66Namirembe , 15NapoleonGulf, 37Natives, defined, 286

restrictions on their killinggame , 299, 3 1 2

N ight-jars, 57 , 76N ile,the, 4

as a means of communication, 34- 6

course of, 34— 64

crossing, 240 , 246

flotilla, 25, 2 8, 34, 42 , 87 , 2 24Fola rapids . S ee F01a, 30

road, the, 1 8 1 -

9sources of, 36

N ile Province , boundar ies of, 4N imule, 1 1 , 147 , 2 24Mr. Churchill at

, 86, 94routeto, 40 - 8

,1 8 1 —

9, 238, 239N imule Mountain

, 51Nyeri, 1 89Okapi , 303

Omdurman, description of, 59,

battle of, 1 20, 12 8, 132Oribi, 191

added to the bag, 167 , 1 83 ,— 15

where to shoot, 9, 2 14Ormsby, Mr. , 67 , 88

Oryx Be isa, 320, 32 1Oryx Leucoryx, 320, 322Ostriches , 161game regulations for, 288,

Owen Falls, 38Owen

,Roddy, 25

Owls, 303

Paniatoli , 230Papawtree, 20Papyrus. 45. 47. 48.50. 56. 78Partndges, 52 , 1 82 , 1 88 , 2 13Passports, 32 2Pegi Hill, 7 8Pelican

, 78, 32 1Peter,”the dog, 20Pharaohs,the , 34, 60Philae,temple of, 61P ibor river,the , 323Piccadilly, 7 1Pigeon, 79Pintail, 2 33Pistia, 45, 195Plaintain- eater

,the , 23Plumbago, 1 1Polki Hill, 1 85

P010 in Khartoum,134Porters, 4, 20, 69PortF lorence , 1 2Posho,” 69Pritchard, D r. ,

100

Pyram ids of Ghizeh, 62Pythons, 159Raffles, 235, 248Rameses

,statues of, 61

Red deer of Exmoor, 2 82Reedbuck, 305, 320Re id, Lieut. , 94Relap. 49.53

IndexRejap Hill, 53 , 1 82Rhine, the, 49Rhinoceros

,B urchell’s orwhite ,

- 8 1

Mr. Churchill’s party en

counter white, vi i, 89, 91 —

3

protection of, 303 , 304, 320,

3 2 2

whereto shoot, 9Ripon Falls , 4, 36

— 8, 66Roanantelope. S ee AntelopeRoman Catholic mission on

Rubager, 15Rosetta, 64Royal Dublin Fusiliers, 1 26Rubager, 15Ruenzori, 198

“ Safari, 2 1 , 1 89

Sakia, the, 60, 1 2 3

Sandal,” a, 55Sand-grouse , 1 35Sandstorms, 1 24Savile , Captain, 1 0 1Scrivings, Mr.

,67 , 104

Secretary B ird, 303, 320, 32 2

Selim B ey, xSemliki elephants , 1 15, 1 7 8Semliki river, the , 196,306

Sesse Islands, 1 2S ettima , 76

Skabluka,156, 168

Shambe, 32 3Shatluka cataract, 59Shaving, d i fficulties of, 280

Shilluk Province , 57 , 102Shilluks ,the , 207Shoe -bill, 320S imsim , 46, 51 , 96, 1 83 , 2 29Slatin, Pasha, 1 32 , 1 37Sleeping s ickness, 307

atEntebbe, 1 2Sobatriver, the , 57 , 2 1 2 , 3 16,

32 3Solanumtrees , 1 3Somaliland, 239Mad Mullah, 36scenery of Northern, 30

Southern Cross, 35SouthernKordofan, 58Speke’s Tragelaphus , 303, 304Sphinx,the, 63Spire , Mr . , 94Spoonbills, 32 1Ste inbuck, 305Stevenson, Captain, 67Stork, Marabou , 304, 3 2 1

saddle -billed, 303 , 32 1whale -headed, 1 2 1 , 303 , 32 1

Struve, Mr., 156, 163 , 167Sudan,the , 3Game Regulations of, 308— 23

Sudan Governmentsteamers,34, 53 ; 109

Sudan,the, lions in, 147Oribi in, 2 1 3tiang in, 1 70

S udanGaz ette, 3 16, 32 2Sudanese troops, 1 30 , 1 3 2 — 5Sudd country, 54, 56, 158Swahili,the , 45

a servant, 249Sweetpotatoes, 19, 3 2 , 7 3

Taaisha,the

,1 29

Tamarindtrees, 49, 1 83Tattenham Corner,” 41Taufik ia, 58, 102 , 156, 167Teal, 233Telescopic S ight, a, 107“Tembo.” I 9. 74. 76

Thistles, purple , 2 1 8Thompson, Lieut. , 80, 86Thunderstorms

,2 1 -

3 , 253Tiang, 103 , 32 1

confused withtopi, 169, 2 1 1— in pursu itof, 142 , 151 , 160

,

169—

7 1

Tobacco, 7 3 , 75, 1 83Tonga Island, 58, 102Tonio, 1 7 8

Topi , confused withtiang, 169,2 1 1

districtof the , 151 , 2 1 2Toro game reserve, 306

Touracou ,the, 2 3Tree -frog,the, 10, 27

IndexTsetse fly, 1 2Tuktuk,the , 51Tusker,the, 89Uganda cob , — 8, 154, 2 19,

Uganda Protectorate, boundaries of, 3 , 4, 24climate of, 239Entebbe , capital of, 1 1Game Regulations, 286—

323inhabitants of, 20lions in

,146

morasses in, 2 1 8- 2 2

oribi in,2 1 3

railway, the , 1 1 , 40railway extension survey, 67 ,7 7roads of, 1 7scenery of, 10 , 1 7sportin, 252thunderstorms in, 2 1 —

3Uma river, the , 3 1 , 96, 1 86, 249Umbrellathorn, 50Unyama river, 29, 48, 1 89UnyorO. 4. 1 6 . 24. 25. 40. 2 24

elephants, 1 16, 1 78 , 2 30Usoga. 4. 10. 76

Vado, 51Vi ctor ia

, 76, 86

V ictoria N ile,the , 4, 24, 36, 20 1

Vultures, 303

Wadelai,2 8, 47 , 88, 106, 147Waders, 46

334

Waganda,the, 23 , 86Waiga river,the, 2 2 7, 2 28Waipoka river, the, 2 2 7Wait-a-b itthorn, 1 41 , 202Waja river,the, 306Warthog, 32 1Waterbuck, 10

, 3 1 , 89, 93, 105,I 7 3 , 274hab its of, 2 82— 5protectionof, 305, 320 , 32 2in pursuitof, 158, 159, 1 86,2 25-

7Mrs . Gray’s, 163

— 6,

320— 2

S ing- sing, 282

— 5,Weaver b irds, 24, 46, 202White ants , 97 , 202White N ile , x, 36, 1 35, 155,

White - eared cob , 102Mr. Churchill shoots, 103in pursu itof, 153— 5, 160

protection of, 320— 2

Wild ass, 303 , 3 20, 322Wild sheep, 3 2 1PVi lliam Macki

’

nnon, s .s . , 66Wilson, George , 307Wilson, L ieut. -Col. Gordon, 67 ,

88—

91 , 96, Io3Wingate , Lady, 1 2 1Wright, Mr.,100

102,

Zanz ibar, 2 86Zebra, 20 1 , 303 , 320, 322Zeribathorn, 32Zubeir

,1 37

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BOMBAY DUCKSAN ACCOUNT OF SOME OF THE EVERY- DAY B IRDS AND BEASTS

FOUND IN A NATURALIST’

S EL DORADO. By DOUGLAS DEWAR.

W ith3 8 I llustrations reproduced, from Photographs, by Capt.PAYKEK, I .m.s. Demy 8vo, 1 6s. net.Trut/z Charm ing Mr Dewar is a natural istwithahappy giftfor

writing ina brightand entertainingway, yetwithoutany sacrifice of sc ientificaccuracy aboutthe animals whosehabits and characteristi cshehas stu died.

He shows thatthe truthaboutthe ways of bird s and beasts can be

m ade wonderfu l ly interesting withoutrecourseto fiction— atany rate, whenthe story isto ld by a natural istwho knowshowto com bine vivacity withveracity inhishand l ing of facts.”Daily News. This new and sumptuous book. Mr. Dewar gives us

a charm ing introdu ctionto a greatmany interesting bird s.”Standard. The Easthas ever beena place ofwonderment

,butthe writer

of Bombay Du cks brings before Western eyes a new setof pi ctures.

The book is entertaining, eventothe reader who is notanatu ral istfirstand areader afterward s. The i l lu strations cannotbe toohighly praised .Se ldomhave we seen photographs of l iving b irds thatattained su chahighpitchof excellence .

”

BIRDS OF THE PLAINSBy DOUGLAS DEWAR, Author of “ BOMBAY DUCKS,W ithnumerous Illustrations. Demy 8vo, 1 0s. 6d. net.This consists of a number of v ividpen-

pi ctures of Indianb ird s by one whoknowshis subject, andmakes no attempttohum ani z e them . The sketchesare written in breezy language, andwi l l appealtothe general reader aswe l l astothe natural ist. Butthe book i s more than a m ere entertaining accountof certain interesting b irds. Itd isplays original observations andthought.For instance , Mr. Dewar isthe firstto describe the tai lor-bird’s m ethod ofbu i ld ing its wonderfu l nest. The work i s one long protestagainstthedogmatism ofthe m odernDarwini sm . Zoologistswi l lhave e itherto d isposeof Mr. Dewar’s objections and arguments or to modify the ir existing ideasregard ing sexual andnatural se lection, protective colouriz ationandm im icry.

BIRDS BY LAND AND SEABy S. MACLAIR BORASTON. W ith65Illustrations from Photographstakenbythe Author andothers. Demy 8 170, 1 0 8 . 6d. net.L iterary World. Itis a long time Since wehad before us a book sobroadly attractive a book thatis butmeagre ly described by being cal led

a feastfor lovers of ornithology. ”Atbeneeum. The i l lustrations, exceed ing sixty in number, are in most

instances so exqu isite thatiti s d ifficu ltto se lectany for special praiseWesternMorning News, A real ly de l ightfu l volume of b ird- lorebook afl’

ords u s a very real pleasure.

CEYLON THE PARAD ISE OFADAM . THE RECORD OF A SEVEN YEARs’ RESIDENCE IN THE

ISLAND . By CAROLINE CORNER. With16 full-page I llus

trations, reproduced from Photographs. Demy 8vo, 1 05. 6d. net.Da z

’

ly.

Clzronzcle. This book is merry— merry, witty , observant, and readab le

observation in l ighter v however, W itha serious note of information and ex

peri ence .

”

Pa llMa ll Gaz ette. The whole book i s charming there is a de lightfu l lyairyhumour throughitall, withhere andthere a flashof vivid descriptive power.

Cynthiahas written nohumdrum guide -book , or diary of trivialities, buta seriesof pen pictures , notone ofwhichis commonplace or du l l.”Trutli . S ingu lar ly vivacious and interesting .

"

TH E P A TH T O P A R I STHE RECORD OF A RIVERSIDE JOURNEY FROM LE HAVRETo PARIS. By FRANK RUTTER. With62 Illustrations byHANSLIP FLETCHER. Demy 8v0, 1 0 8. 6d. net.Outlook.

—“An a ltogether de lightfu l volume . Mr. Rutterhas a nice di scrimination forthe rea l ly p icturesque and a frank intolerance forthe spurious .

Wor ld. Havingturnedto The Pathto Paris.

’

itisthereinthatI fee l sure ourfeetmustbe setif a rea l andnewk ind ofhol iday i sto be spent. The i l lustrations are remarkab ly fine .

”

Graplzz'

c . The PathtoParis, ’ as dep icted by Mr . F letcher’s fascinating penci land described by Mr. Rutter’s l ive ly pen, i s l ike ly to lead manyholiday -seekersbacktothe mostinteresting of all Eng land'

s ancestra lhomes.

"

Da ily Express . Altogether a de lightfu l book.

”

DALMATIA ! THE BORDERLAND’TWIXT EAST AND WEST . Withupwards of 50I llustrations from original Photographs by OTTO HOLBACH , anda Map . Crown 8vo, 53 . net.Wgr ld.

—‘fA very charm ing and extreme ly usefu l travebbook a series of

fine illustrations a country of S ingu lar Interest,hi storical , present, and perspecti ve .

S aturday Review. Mrs. Holbach’s book is pi cturesque ,her descriptionof itspeople and places of interestbe ing adm irab ly supplementedby the numerous i l lustrations, for whichherhusband is responsib le .

Standa rd.—

“The poetry of associationhas been c lever ly caught, and

,whatis

more , there is a rea l , thoughnever-paraded, knowledge of thehistorica l c laims ofthishalf-forgottenquarter ofthe world.

”

BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINASOME WAYSIDE WANDERINGS. By MAUDE M .

HOLBACH . With48 I llustrations by OTTO HOLBACH and a

Map. Uniform with“ Dalmatia. Crown 8V0, 55. net.

R I FLE AND ROMANCE INTHE INDIAN JUNGLE

By CAPTAIN A. I . R. GLASFURD . BE ING THE RECORDOF TH IRTEEN YEARS OF INDIAN JUNGLE LI FE . W ith52 Illustrations by the Author and Reproductions fromPhotographs. Demy 8vo, 7 s. 6d. net.

“As sound and readable a book as wehave seen for

many a day,”is the opinion of the Atbemeum. Captain

Glasfurd is well acquainted withthe subject, being a greathunter . He i s also an artistwhohas sketched the beasts ofthe jungle, imparting to them a life and vigour whichonlythe Sportsman can interpret.L iter a ry Wor ld. Tothe listof books onb ig game shooting thatcan be com

mended equally tothe sportsman and the genera l reader mustbe addedthistru lyfascinating work. Wehave read itthroughfrom cover to cover, and pronounce itexce l lent. ”A cademy . Searchwhere we wi l l throughthis entertaining book , we a lway shappenupon sound literature , fine description, good natura lhistory , and live ly ad

venture . The author is clear ly in love withhis subject, and the pictures of jung lescene ry and jung le li fe are wonderfu l ly vivid inall respects a first-rate book .

”

LEAVE S FROM A MADE IRAGARDEN

By CHARLES THOMAS- STANFORD,F .S.A. Author of

A River of Norway, etc . W ithIO full- page Illustrations. Crown 8vo.

AFRICA FROM SOUTH To NORTHTHROUGH MAROTSELAND . ByMi JOR

A. ST . H . GI BBONS. W ithnum erous Illu strations fromPhotographs and Maps. Demy 8vo. Two Volumes.

325. net.Spectator . Inthis adm irab le narrative Major Gibbonste l ls theta le ofhis ex

periences In a mannerworthy of so ga l lanta company . We cou ldwishthatBritainwere a lways represented by menofhistype inremote corners ofthe g lobe. ”Saturday Revi’ew. Itis soundwithoutbe ingheavy .

"

Westm inster Gaz ette. Itis impossible ina few paragraphsto do justice tocontents of these pregnantvolumes. A g lance atthe adm irab le maps wi l l showthatnowork of the sorthas beenmore thoroughly done . ThoughMajor Gibbonswr ite s withreserve , the book goes farto explainthe success of Britishmethods ofadm inistration, and to accountfor the natural jea lousy of some of our be latedrivals .

"

Standa rd. Fewmore importantbooks oftrave lhave appeared inrecentyearsthanMajor Gibbons ’

stwo volumes .”

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TWO D IANA S IN A LA S KABy AGNES HERBERT s! a SH IKAR IWi thnumerous I l lustrations . Demy 8VO.

Price 1 25. Oi l. net. Postage 6d. extra. 9 <5

SOME PRESS OPINIONS

The Sportsman“The warm and lengthy praise we gave to the companion

volume ‘Two D ianas in Somali land ’

mighty be repeated. They shou ldhave alace in every sportsman’

5 l ibrary nay , in far more , for the piquancy ofthe sty le ,andthe charming fr iendl iness of itall, enthra l the reader.

The F ield. The story istold by Miss Herbertwithallthe free and joyous Spiritwhichcharacterisedher former volume ; the same love of exploration, admirationfor the beauty in nature , keenness for sport, andwitha l a womanly restraintandtender-heartedness.

’

Country L ifi zs “Miss Herbert’shandhas lostnothing of its sprightliness , shedescribes

y

graphical ly andwithnever fai l ing nerve many excitinghunts . Itis tothe fu l l as daring and l ive ly asthe Soma li land volume .

’

The A cademy We commend‘Two D ianas inAlaska ’ to many readers

an amusing and p icture sque journey . Scenery is powerfu l ly descr ibed, and so are

the e ffects of lightand shade and the fl ightof b irds. Butthe ways of the mooseprovide the mostattractive reading of all.

The D a i ly Teleg raph. -“ This is a de lightfu l book , of equa l interestto the

sportsman and the genera l reader. L ightand brightarethe pages . Wehearti lyrecommendthis bookto all readers . Iti s all adm irab le .

”

Yorhshzr e Post. — “This i s a book ofhighspirits , m ixed withphi losophy . Inthese prosaic days a romance from real l i fe i s notto be res isted.

The Morning Post. —“This de lightfu l book . Live ly is a poor name for it, it

scinti l lates withl ife . We are soon carried away withthe z estOf it, andthe irrepressib lehumour whichbubbles outon every page .

'

F ortnightly Remew. Miss Herberthas ahappy knack Of amusing the reader

on a lmostevery page ofher brightnarrative , and this a lone placesher above them ajority Of wr iters ontrave l. Itis withher asides

,her notunk indly satire ,her

unabated phi losophy , thatMiss He rbertattractsthe reader .

"

Pa ll Ma ll Ga z ette .—

“Miss Herberthas a pretty wit, word-p ictures of mag icbeauty . The book I s witty , picture sque , exciting , andthe effectonthe tired brainof a dwe l ler in c ities isthatof a breez e bring inghea lthfrom a sa lutary land.

D a i ly News . Far superior bothin literary meritand interesttothe commonrun. Shou ld secure a wide popu larity .

”

Manche ster Gu a rdzans Fu l l Of interest, andwe are constantly amused byherdry -pointobservations onmenand animals .

D a ily Chronzele.—

“Itis an amu sing and interesting narrative all through.

Those who do notlike ki l ling wi l l find many otherthings inthis bookthattheywi l ll ike . Miss Herbert’shumour i s of re freshing variety . She can Observey anddescribe as we l l as shoot. ”Westm inster Ga z ette . As brightand cheerfu l a record of sportas any Ihave

read. Exce l lentdescriptions ofthe country and natives .

’

The Standa rd. This volume may be recommended as sure to enterta in. Iti svoicingthe cry of the wi ld so vividly and sympathetical ly thatg ives to this workits distinctive character.The Natzonw C leverto bri l l iancy .

Outlook. Allthe completeness of a we l l constructed nove l . Racy descriptionsof quaintscenes and quainter peoples .

"

agoTI CE

Those who possess old letters,documents

,corre

spondence, W SS .

,scraps of autohiography ,

and also

miniatures and portra its,relating to persons and

matter shistor ical,literary ,

political and social,should

communicate withW r . ffohn Lane,The Bodley

Head,Vigo Street, London, W ,

who will atall

timeshe pleasedto givehis advice and assistance,

either as to their preservation or puhlication.

L IV ING MASTERS OF MUSICAn I l lu strated Series Of Monographs dealing withContemporary Mu sical L i fe

,and inc luding Repte

sentatives of all Branches of the Art. Edited byROSA NEWMARCH. Crown 8vo. C loth. 25. 6d. neteachvo lume .

HENRY J. WOOD. By ROSA NEWMARCH.

SIR EDWARD ELGAR. By R. J. BUCKLEY .

JOSEPH JOACHIM . By J . A. FULLER MAITLAND.

EDWARD MACDOWELL . By L . GI LMAN .EDVARD GRIEG. By H . T . FINCK .

THEODOR LESCHETIZK Y . By A . HULLAH.

GIACOMO PUCCINI . By WAKELING DRY .

ALFRED BRUNEAU. By ARTHUR HERVEY .

IGNAZ PADEREWSK I . By E . A . BAUGHAN.RI CHARD STRAUSS. By A . K A L I SCH .

CLAUDE DEBUSSY . By FRANZ L I EB I CH .

S T A R S O F T H E S T A GA Series Of I l lu strated Biographies of the LeadingA ctors

,A ctresses, and Dram ati sts. Edited by J . T .

GRE I N . Crown 8vo. 2 3 . 6d. eachnet.Itwas S chi ller who sa id ! Twine no wr eathf or the

actor , s incehis work i s ora l and ephem er a l.” “

Sta r s of theStage m ay in some deg r ee r emove thi s r eproach. Ther e a r ehundreds of thou sands of playgoer s , andhotheditor andpuhlzsherthink itr easonahleto as sum ethata cons zder ahle numher of thesewou ld like to know som ething ahoutactor s , actresses , and

dr amati sts , whose work they nightly appla ud. E achvolume

wi llhe ca r ef u lly i llu strated, and as f a r as text, p r zntzng ,and

paper a re concernedwi llhe a notahlehook. Gr eatca r ehasheentaken in s electing thehiog raphers , who in mostcases havea lready accum u latedmuchappropr i ate mater ia l.

F i rstVolumes.

ELLEN TERRY . By CHRI ST OPHE R ST . JOHN.HERBERT BEERBOHM TREE. By MRS. GEO RGE CRAN.W . S. GI LBERT. By EDIT H A . BROWNE .CHAS. WYNDHAM. By FLORENCE TE IGNMOUTH SHORE.GEORGE BERNARD SHAW. By G . K . CHESTE RTON .

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A CATALOGUE OF

THE DUKE OF RE ICHSTADT (NAPOLEON I I .)By EDWARD DE WERTHEIMER. Translated from the German.

Withnumerous I llustrations. Demy 8vo. 2 15. net. (SecondEdition. )

Times .-“ A mostcare fu l and interesting work whichpresents the firstcomplete and

authoritative accountOfthe l ife ofthis unfortunate Prince .

’

Westm inster Ga z ette.—

“This book , adm irab ly produced, re inforced by many additional

portra igs , i s a solid contributiontohistory and a monumentOf patient, we l l-applied

researc

NAPOLEON’

S CONQUEST OF PRUSSIA,1 806.

By F . LoRAiNE PETRE. Withan Introduction by FIELDMARSHAL EARL ROBERTS, V .C .

, K .G . , etc . W ithMaps, BattlePlans, Portraits, and 16 Full-page I llustrations. Demy 8VO

(9x 5az inches) . 1 2 s. 6d. net.Scotsm an. Ne ithentoo concise , nortoo difi'

use ,the book is em inently readable . Itisthebestwork inEng lishona somewhatCircumscr ibed subject. "Outlook. Mr. Petrehas v isitedthe battlefie lds and read everything , andhis monographis

a mode l ofwhatmi litaryhistory ,handledwithenthusiasm and l iterary abi lity , can be. ”

NAPOLEON ’

S CAMPA IGN IN POLAND,1 806

1 80 7 . A Military History of Napoleon’s F irstWarwithRussia,

verified from unpublished Offic ial documents. By F . LORAINEPETRE. W ith16 Full-page I llustrations, Maps, and Plans. NewEdition. Demy 8vo (9 x Sginches) . i z s. 6d. net.

Army andN avy Chronicle.-“We we lcome a second edition Of this va luab le work .

Mr . Lora ine Petre i s an authority onthe wars of the greatNapo leon, andhas broughtthe greatestcare and energy intohis studies Of the subject.

NAPOLEON AND THE ARCHDUKECHARLES. A H istory of the F ranco-Austrian Campaign inthe Valley of the Danube in 1 809. By F . LORAINE PETRE.

W ith8 I llustrations and 6 sheets of Maps and Plans. Demy 8vo

(9x 5% inches) . i z s. 6d. net.

RALPH HEATHCOTE . Letters of a D iplomati stDuringthe Time of Napoleon, Giving anAccountOf the D isputebetweenthe Emperor and the Elector of Hesse . By COUNTESSGUNTHER GROBEN. WithNumerous Illustrations. Demy 8VO

(9 x 5% inches) . 1 z s. 6d net.Ra lphHeathcote ,the son of an E ng lishf ather and anA lsatianmother , was f b r

sometime znthe E ng lzshdip lomatic service as fi r stsecreta ry toM r . B ! ook Tay lor , m zni steratthe Cou rtof Hesse, and on one occas ionf oundhzm self very nea r to m ak znghistory .

Napoleonhecam eper s uadedthatTay lor was implicated i na plottoprocu r ehzs a ssas s zna o

ti on, and ins isted onhzs dism issa l f rom the Hess ian Cou rt. A s Tay lor r ef used tohedism issed,the incidentatonetune seem ed li kely to r esu lttothe E lector in the loss ofhzsthrone Heathcote cam e into conta ctwztha numher of notahlepeople , including the M i ss

B er r ys , withwhomhe as su reshzs motherhe i s noti n love. Onthe whole , there i s m uchinteresting mater i a l/for lovers of ola’ letters andJou rna ls .

MEMOIRS, B IOGRAPH IES, ETC . 5

MEMO IRS OF THE COUNT DE CARTRIE .

A record of the extraordinary events in the life of a F renchRoyalistduring the war in La Vendee , and ofhis flightto Southampton, wherehe followed thehumble occupation of gardener.

Withan introduction by F REDERIC MASSON, Appendices and Notesby P IERRE AMEDEE P ICHOT, andotherhands, andnumerous I llustrations

,including a Photogravu re Portraitofthe Author. Demy 8vo.

1 25. 6d. net.Dai ly N

fiws . Wehave seldom metwithahumandocumentwhichhas interested u s so

muc

THE JOURNAL OF JOHN MAYNE DUR INGA TOUR ON THE CONTINENT UPON ITS RE

OPENING AFTER THE FALL OF NAPOLEON, 1 8 14.

Edited byhis Grandson, JOHN MAYNE COLLES. With16

I llustrations. Demy 8vo (9 x 5% inches) . 1 z s. 6d. net.

WOMEN OF THE SECOND EM P I R E .

Chronicles of the Courtof Napoleon I I I . By F REDERIC LOLIEE.

W ithan introduction by RICHARD WHITEING and 53 full-pageI llustrations, 3 in Photogravure . D emy 8VO. 2 1 s . net.

Standa rd.—

“M. Frédé ric Loliéehas written a remarkab le book , vivid and piti less in itsdescription ofthe intrigue anddare devi l spiritwhichflourished uncheckedatthe FrenchCourt” . Mr. RichardWhite ing ’

s introduction i s writtenwithrestra intand dignity ’

LOU IS NAPOLEON AND THE GENESIS OFTHE SECOND EMPIRE . By F . H C HEETHAM. WithNumerous Illustrations. Demy 8vo (9x 5% inches) . 1 6s. net.

MEMO I R S O F MADEMO I SEL LE DE SECHEROLLES . Translated from the F renchby MARIECLOTHi LDE BALFOUR. Withan Introduction by G . K . F ORTESCUE,

Portraits, etc . sr. net.L iverpool Mer cu ry . this absorbing book . . The workhas a very dec idedhistorica l va lue . Thetranslation i s exce l lent, andqu ite notable inthe preservation of

idiom.

”

JANE AUSTEN ’

S SA ILOR BROTHERS. Be ingthe life andAdventures of Sir F rancis Austen, Admiral ofthe Fleet, andRear-Admiral Charles Austen. By J . H . and E . C .

HUBBACK. W ithnumerous I llustrations. Demy 8vo. I as . 6d. net.Mornzng Post. May be we lcomed as an importantadditionto Austeniana .

iti s bes ides valuab le for its g limpses of l i fe inthe Navy , its i l lustrations of the fee l ingsand sentiments of nava l Ofli cers during the per iod thatpreceded and thatwhichfol lowed the greatbattle Of justone century ago, the battle whichwon so muchbutwhichcostus— Ne lson.

A CATALOGUE OF

SOME WOMEN LOV ING AND LUCKLESS.

By TEODOR DE WYZEWA. Translated from the F renchby C . H .

JEFFRESON, M.A. WithNumerous I llustrations. Demy 8vo

(9x 5% inches) . 7s. 6d. net.

POETRY AND PROGRESS IN RUSSIA . ByROSA NEWMARCH. With6 full-page Portraits. Demy 8vo.

7s. 64. net.Standard. D istinctly a book thatshou ld be read pleasantly written and we l l

Informed.

”

G IOVANN I BOCCACC IO ! A B IOGRAPH ICALSTUDY. By EDWARD HUTTON. W itha Photogravure Frontispiece and numerous other I llustrations. Demy 8vo (9 x 5&inches) . 165. net.

THE L IFE OF PETER IL ICH TCHA IKOVSKY( 1 840 Byhis Brother, MODESTE TCHAIKOVSKY . Editedand abridged from the Russian and German Editions by ROSANEWMARCH. W ithNumerous I llustrations and Facsimiles and an

Introduction by the Editor. Demy 8vo. 7s. 6d. net. Secondedition.

The Times . A mosti l luminating commentary onTchaikovsky ’

s music. ”Wor ld. One of the mostfasc inating se lf-reve lations by an artistwhichhas beeng iventothe wor ld. The trans lation is exce l lent, andworthreading for its own sake .

”

Contempor ary Rev i ew. The book ’

s appea l is , of course , primari ly tothe mus ic- lover butthere is so muchofhuman and l iterary interestin it, suchintimate reve lation of aS ingu la rly interesting persona lity , thatmany whohave never come under the spe l l ofthe Pathetic Symphony wi l l be strong ly attracted by whatis virtual ly the spiritua lautobiography of its composer. Highpraise is duetothe trans lator and editor for thel iterary ski l l withwhichshehas preparedthe Eng l ishvers ionofthis fascinating workTherehave been few col lections of letters published within recentyearsthatgive so

vi vid a portraitof the writer asthatpre sentedto us Inthese pages.

COKE OF NORFOLK AND H IS FR IENDSThe L ife of Thomas William Coke , F irstEarl of L eicester of

the second creation, containing an accountof his Ancestry,Surroundings, Public Services, and Private F riendships, and

including many Unpublished Letters from Noted Men ofhis day,Englishand American. By A . M . W . STIRLING. With2 0Photogravure and upwards of 40 other I llustrations reproducedfrom Contemporary Portraits, Prints, etc. Demy 8vo. 2 vols.

3 2 1 . net.The Times . We thank Mr. Stirling for one of the mostinteresting memoirs of recent

y ears.

"

D a i ly Telegraph. A very remarkab le l iterary performance . Mrs . Stir l inghas achieveda resurrection. Shehas fashioned a p icture of a dead and forgotten pastand broughtbe fore our eyes withthe vividness of breathing existencethe l ife of our Eng lishancestorsofthe e ighteenthcentury .

”

P a llMa ll Ga z ette . A work of no common interest; in fact, a work whichmay a lmostbeca l led unique .

”

E vening Standa rd One ofthe mostinteresting b iographies wehave read for years.

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8 A CATALOGUE OF

THE L IFE OF JOAN OF ARC . By ANATOLEFRANCE. A Translation byWINIFRED STEPHENS. With8 I llustrations. D emy 8vo (9x 542 inches) . 2 vols. Price 255. net.

THE DAUGHTER OF LOU IS XVI . Marie

Thérése- Charlotte of F rance, Duchesse D ’

Angou léme . By. G.

LENOTRE. With1 3 Full-page Illustrations. Demy 8vo. Price1 0s. 6d. net.

W ITS,BEAUX

,AND BEAUT IES OF THE

GEORGIAN ERA. By JOHN FYV IE, author of “ Some Famous

Women ofW itand Beauty,” Com edyQueens ofthe Georgian

Era,”etc . W itha Photogravure Portraitand numerous other

Illustrations. Demy 8vo (9x 5—2 inches) . 1 z s. 6d. net.

LADIES FA IR AND FRA IL . Sketches of theDemi-monde during the EighteenthCentury. By HORACEBLEACKLEY, author of “ The Story of a Beautiful Duchess.”W ith1 Photogravure and 15other Portraits reproduced fromcontemporary sources. Demy 8VO (9x 55inches) . i z s. 6d. net.

MADAME DE MA INTENON ! Her L ife and

Times, 1635- 1 7 19. By C . C. DYSON. W ith1 PhotogravurePlate and 1 6 other Illustrations. Demy 8vo (9x 5% inches) .i z s. 6d. net.

DR. JOHNSON AND MRS. THRALE . ByA. M. BROADLEY. Withan Introductory Chapter by THOMASSE

'

CCOMBE. W ith24 Illustrations from rare or iginals, includinga reproduction in colours of the Fellowes Miniature of Mrs.

P ioz z i by Roche, and a Photogravure of Harding’s sepia drawingof Dr. Johnson. Demy 8vo (9 x 5% inches) . 1 z s. 6d. net.

THE DAYS OF THE DIRECTO IRE . ByALFRED ALLINSON, M.A. W ith48 Full- page Illustrations,including many illustrating the dress of the time . Demy 8vo

(9x 5% inches) . 16s. net.

MEMOIRS,B IOGRAPH IES

,ETC . 9

HUBERT AND JOHN VAN EYCK ! Their L ifeandWork . By W . H . JAMES WEALE. W ith4 1 Photogravureand 95Black andWhite Reproductions. Royal 4to. £55s. net.

0

S IR MART IN CONWAY ’S N OTE .

Nea r lyha lf a centu ryhas passed s ince M r . IV . H . j am es Wea le, then residentatB rug es ,heg anthatlong ser i es of patientinvestigations intothehistory of N ether landisha rtwhichwa s destined to ea rn so r zchaha rvest. Whenheheg an work Mem li'nc wa s

sti ll ca lled Hem ling , and was f ahled tohave a rr ived atB r ug es a s a wounded soldier .

The vanEy cks wer e little morethan leg endaryheroes . Rog er Vander Weydenwas littlemor e than a name. Mostof the other g r eatN ether landisha rtists wer e e ither whollyforgotten or named only in connection withpa intings withwhichtheyhad nothing to do.

M r . Wea le discovered Gera rd D avid, and disentang ledhis pr inc ipa l works from Mem

linc’s , withwhichthey wer ethen confused.

V INCENZO FOPPA OF BRESC IA,FOUNDER o p

THE LOMBARD SCHOOL, H i s L IFE AND WORK . By CONSTANCEJOCELYN FFOULKES and MONSIGNOR RODOLFO MAJOCCH I , D .D. ,

Rector ofthe Collegio Borromeo, Pavia. Based on researchintheArchives of Milan, Pavia, B rescia, and Genoa, and onthe studyof allhis known works. Withover 1 00 I llustrations, many in

Photogravure , and 1 00 Documents. Royal 4to.

263. r i s. 6d. net.No complete L i/é of Vincenz o Foppahas everheen wr itten ! an om iss ion whi ch

seems a lmostinexpli cahle in these day s of over -produ ction i n the matter of hzog raphics of pa inter s , and of suhyects r elating to the a rtof Ita ly . The oh] ectof thea uthor s of this hook has heen to pr esenta tru e p ictu r e of the m aster '

s

]lifehased

uponthe testimony of r ecords i n Ita lian a rchives . The a uthor shave unea rthed a la rg e

amountof new mater ia l r elating to Foppa , one of the m ostinter esting f actshroughttolightheing thathe lived for twenty -three y ea rs long er thanwas f or mer ly supposed. Thei llustrations will include sever a lp ictu reshy Foppahitherto unknown inthehistory of art.

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LETTERS AND JOURNALS OF SAMUELGRIDLEY HOWE . Edited byhis Daughter LAURA E .

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