Lake Victoria to Khartoum 



without butter. Like the native of India, the 

 Greek trader thinks only of money. Who could 

 imagine this a mass of ruins such a short time 

 ago, or who could wish for jollier surroundings 

 amid which to pass some years of one's life in, 

 till — a "haboob" comes along? 



Now a "haboob," or local sandstorm, is a 

 pretty bad thing when it appears, or rather sur- 

 prises one in the middle of the night. I know 

 these dust storms of old in my Indian days, but 

 in Hindustan you are unlucky if they last for 

 half an hour, whilst in Khartoum they go on for 

 a whole day and more sometimes. You may 

 bung up every hole and crevice, close the windows 

 and put sandbags along the foot of the door, 

 but it's not a bit of good, as very soon a 

 thick film of dust will have settled over all, whilst 

 the heat with everything shut up is stifling. For- 

 tunately these sandstorms usually come from the 

 south-east ; if they come from the opposite direc- 

 tion, the dust of Khartoum North, straight opposite 

 on the other bank of the Blue Nile, churned up 

 by thousands of railway and dockyard feet, would 

 make the result doubly appalling. I'm afraid, 

 however, much as I should like to gloss over 

 them, I can't quite consign "haboobs" into ob- 

 livion, as they are said to be particularly bad in 

 April and May, and I experienced a tiny one 

 that Christmas to give me an idea of what they 

 are like. 



124 



