FISHING AND PHILOSOPHY 127 



"fire." The result of the volley was that the 

 crocodile slid i^^ntly back into the water. A week 

 after this exploit the carcass of an enormous croco- 

 dile was dragged ashore at Korti, some forty miles 

 south of Dengola. He was eighteen feet in length, 

 and the half of a full-grown donkey was found in 

 his stomach. Major Vernon, an officer in the 6th 

 Rifles, made a sketch of him. I believe eighteen 

 feet to be nearly a record. 



I also recall an incident which is worth relatino- 

 although it has nothing to do with fishing. I had 

 been sent down from Dengola to Korti to fetch up 

 ammunition in one of the Nile craft, a rough sort of 

 dahabeeyah. At Dengola the medical arrange- 

 ments were not so good as they were at Korti, so 

 on the return journey a sergeant of Engineers was 

 put on board in order to get better treatment in 

 the hospital at Korti. Athough not much time was 

 occupied in sailing down, it took the old boat some 

 three days to get back ; consequently we had to 

 moor up by the bank at night. The swarms of rats 

 that came aboard from the shore were amazinor • 

 in fact so great that my batman and I had to re- 

 main below, taking our watch in turns, to ward off 

 the rats that were endeavourino- to attack the un- 

 fortunate sick man. He actually did get a few 

 bites. Anyhow, when we arrived at Dengola, what 

 with the stifling heat of the cabin by day, and the 



