40 Bird Hu7iting on the White Nile. 



camels and even goats can be gradually trained to exist 

 without water for as long as two or three days, but man 

 cannot live long in this burning country without the life- 

 giving water, as many a poor wretch has proved, while 

 birds are even more dependent upon it. There is no 

 dew, and save for a small well here and there at long 

 intervals, water can only be had at the river. Man, or 

 rather woman for him, has to come there to get his 

 water, and thither he has to drive his camels, cattle 

 and goats, often from long distances, to drink. 



To the river every morning and evening, as regular 

 as clockwork, flock after flock of sand- grouse and pigeons 

 come down to drink. All day long small birds are 

 passing to and from the trees and bushes to the river's 

 edge, while at dawn or in the evening, wild beasts of many 

 kinds come from their haunts on the same errand. But 

 man is dependent upon the river not only for the water 

 he drinks, but largely also for his food. It is true 

 that much "dhura," the corn of the country, is grown 

 during the rainy season out of reach of the Nile 

 even at its greatest height, but by far the larger part 

 and the richer part of the cultivatable land is the mud 

 which so troubled our donkeys, and this mud is en- 

 tirely dependent upon the flooding of the river to render 

 it fit for agriculture. The same may be said of the 



