Lake Victoria to Khartoum 



shore of Lake Albert, This strip of low-lying 

 land between the mountain and the tempestuous 

 waters of the lake is a g^rand shootincj ground. 

 One may confidently expect to meet several 

 varieties of big game for a hundred miles south 

 of Butiaba right down to the Semliki river, and 

 animals with good heads into the bargain, as few 

 people come to these comparatively unknown 

 parts in search of game. There are not many 

 inhabitants, so that flour and sweet potatoes are 

 at a premium, but one can depend on fish to a 

 large extent to supply one's entourage with food. 

 From here to Masindi is two days' march 

 through one of the great primeval forests which 

 extend in all directions in these parts. An oak 

 is a mere pigmy beside the giants of these wilds. 

 Often did we stop to admire the prodigious 

 height and girth of these trees. Their beautiful 

 proportions render them the more striking ; there 

 are no rough knobby stems such as we are accus- 

 tomed to see in the ancient oaks and elms of 

 England. Every trunk rises from the earth like 

 a mast, perfectly free from branches for a hundred 

 feet or so, straight as a dart, forming a grey 

 pillar to support its share of the rich canopy 

 above, which constitutes a roof perfectly im- 

 pervious to the sun. It is difficult to guess the 

 actual height of these trees, but I should say 

 that often as not one would miss with a gun a 

 bird on the topmost branches. From age to age 



196 



