Lake Victoria to Khartoum 



one of their gorges. The route was now pain- 

 ful, lying over ground rugged with rocks and 

 intersected with ravines and deep within the 

 shadows that were cast by the high and broken 

 summits of the mountains. Bleak black hills 

 lay on every side of us, compensating in some 

 degree for the additional toil of the march by 

 the sense of security they imparted. At length 

 we began slowly to climb a steep and rugged 

 ascent by a road that curiously wound its way 

 among rocks and trees, avoiding the former and 

 gaining support from the latter in a manner that 

 showed it had been devised by men long practised 

 in the arts of the wilderness. 



As we gradually rose from the level of the 

 village, the thick darkness which usually precedes 

 the approach of day began to disperse, and 

 objects were seen in the plain and palpable 

 colours with which they have been gifted by 

 nature. When we issued from the stunted woods 

 which clung to the barren side of the mountain, 

 and found ourselves upon a flat and mossy rock 

 that formed the summit of the chain, we met the 

 morning as it came blushing above the green 

 downs of a hill that lay on the opposite side of 

 the valley. 



The recrossing of the Nile was comparatively 

 easy, as we were able to profit by the knowledge 

 gained during the outward journey to steer clear 

 of the more dangerous rapids and submerged 



246 



