XIV 



BACK TO UGANDA 



jA FTER leaving Bor, where I had landed 

 /% and kept everybody waiting whilst in 

 / % pursuit of a bushbuck, as before de- 

 scribed, the post boat continued its 

 weary way southwards towards Uganda. At 

 intervals a few thorn trees reared their spiny 

 stems from behind the matted bank of reeds and 

 bulrush, entwined with purple convolvulus that 

 fringed the river as it turned and twisted in this 

 low-lying country. 



Just before rounding a certain bend, we had 

 been warned by the engineer to keep a sharp 

 look out, as some sandbanks in front of us were a 

 favourite haunt of hippos, a spot on which they 

 used to bask in the noonday sun. Sure enough 

 we came upon a large herd, old and young of all 

 ages, lying about well out of the water, warming 

 themselves on a sandbank on one side of the 

 river. Some thirty yards further away was another 

 similarly situated sandbank tenanted by dozens 

 of crocodiles, also performing the same species of 

 hard labour. The latter were the first to take 

 alarm, as some were half in and half out of the 

 water — sleeping, as usual, with one eye open — and 

 thus the beat of the big wheel was conducted to 



179 



