Mr. Churchill's Journey 



with a different relay of porters to meet us at 

 Nimule. 



The Nile was hidden from our view here by 

 the dense masses of foliage and forest trees 

 separating the road from the river. But the 

 booming of its restless waters served as a lullaby 

 at night. 



The road continued its switchback course 

 through the forest next morning till we got on to 

 rather higher ground, when it emerged to a 

 region of thorn trees and shortish grass, whilst 

 the path itself and general conformation of the 

 country became much flatter. Another two hours 

 or so brought us to the resj-ion of habitations. 

 At length, owing to our ascent to drier ground, 

 the narrow path widened out into a well-kept 

 broad road bounded by trees and "shambas" or 

 gardens. The further we proceeded the more 

 beautiful and highly cultivated grew the land. 

 On either side were luxuriant fields of sweet 

 potatoes, of juicy green tobacco, of yellow- 

 flowering ground nuts, of maize and millet, 

 of cotton and castor-oil plants — all divided from 

 one another by cleanly-kept paths, each hedged 

 with chili bushes resplendent in their bright 

 scarlet seed pods, or rows of mahogo, whilst 

 in the background there were groves of bananas 

 and fig trees of different species, a few clusters 

 of euphorbias to furnish the grotesque, and 

 thickets of climbing plants. 



12> 



