Lake Victoria to Khartoum 



coast was clear we moved rapidly. Naturally 

 the noise we made breaking through the dry 

 grass was considerable, move as carefully as we 

 would, and the upshot was another crash close 

 by on our left, caused by one of those infernal 

 cows turning up once more. And this was some 

 two miles from the scene of our first encounter. 

 Now she came up with the devil in her eyes ; and 

 we saw in a glade two more cows facing us, with 

 three calves huddled up under them. 



It was only another case of an elephant hunt 

 having gone wrong. In our eagerness we had 

 miscalculated time and distance ; otherwise my 

 people were perfectly correct in their suppositions. 

 We ran like rabbits from this awful apparition, 

 hoping she wouldn't leave her calf, and on our 

 way back to the boats cut into the spoor of the 

 remainder of the herd, evidently making for a 

 point to meet our friends the cows. Then the 

 steam whistle began sounding violently, waking 

 the echoes around, giving us due notice that 

 the skipper was in a hurry to be off, so there was 

 nothing for it but to make tracks at once. It was 

 shocking luck, as, judging by the footmarks, I 

 am sure there was a big bull, and this was the 

 fifth disappointment I had had. But there always 

 is "the biggest bull I've ever met" mixed up in 

 any story in which the herd get away ! 



No further incident marked our journey to 

 Nimule, where we disembarked and prepared for 



238 



