388 KHTNOCEKOS OF THE LA DO [ch. xiv 



Mooii. On our left hand rose the frowning ranges, on 

 the other side of which the Congo forest hes hke a 

 shroud over the land. On our right we passed the 

 mouth of the A^ictorian Nile, alive with monstrous 

 crocodiles, and its banks barren of human life because 

 of the swarms of the ily whose bite brings tlie torment 

 which ends in death. As night fell we entered the 

 White Nile, and steamed and drifted down the mighty 

 stream. Its current swirled in long curves between 

 endless ranks of plumed papyrus. White, and blue, 

 and red, the floating water-lilies covered the lagoons 

 and the still inlets among the reeds ; and here and there 

 the lotus lifted its leaves and flowers stiffly above the 

 surface. The brilliant tropic stars made lanes of light 

 on the lapping water as we ran on through the night. 

 The river horses roared from the reed beds, and snorted 

 and plunged beside the boat, and crocodiles slipped 

 sullenly into the river as we glided by. Toward morn- 

 ing a mist arose, and through it the crescent of the 

 dying moon shone red and lurid. Then the sun flamed 

 aloft, and soon the African landscape, vast, lonely, 

 mysterious, stretched on every side in a shimmering 

 glare of heat and light ; and ahead of us the great, 

 strange river went twisting away into the distance. 



At midnight we had stopped at the station of Koba, 

 where we were warmly received by the District Com- 

 missioner, and where we met lialf a dozen of the 

 professional elephant hunters, who for the most part 

 make their money, at hazard of their lives, by poaching 

 ivory in the Congo. They are a hard-bitten set, these 

 elephant poachers ; there are few careers more adven- 

 turous, or fraught with more peril, or which make 

 heavier demands upon the daring, the endurance, and 

 the physical hardihood of tliose who follow them. 



