396 AFRICAN GAME TRAILS 



from fever, from the assaults of warlike native tribes, from 

 their conflicts with their giant quarry; and the unending 

 strain on their health and strength is tremendous. 



At noon the following day we stopped at the deserted 

 station of Wadelai, still in British territory. There have 

 been outposts of white mastery on the Upper Nile for many 

 years, but some of them are now abandoned, for as yet 

 there has been no successful attempt at such develop- 

 ment of the region as would alone mean permanency of 

 occupation. The natives whom we saw offered a sharp 

 contrast to those of Uganda; we were again back among 

 wild savages. Near the landing at Wadelai was a group of 

 thatched huts surrounded by a fence; there were small 

 fields of mealies and beans, cultivated by the women, 

 and a few cattle and goats; while big wickerwork fish- 

 traps showed that the river also offered a means of liveli- 

 hood. Both men and women were practically naked; 

 some of the women entirely so except for a few beads. 

 Here we were joined by an elephant hunter, Quentin Gro- 

 gan, who was to show us the haunts of the great square 

 mouthed rhinoceros, the so-called white rhinoceros, of the 

 Lado, the only kind of African heavy game which we 

 had not yet obtained. We were allowed to hunt in the 

 Lado, owing to the considerate courtesy of the Belgian 

 Government, for which I was sincerely grateful. 



After leaving Wadelai we again went downstream. The 

 river flowed through immense beds of papyrus. Beyond 

 these on either side were rolling plains gradually rising 

 in the distance into hills or low mountains. The plains 

 were covered with high grass, dry and withered; and the 

 smoke here and there showed that the natives, according 



