" POSHO " 



water is seen covering the path and hiding treacherous 

 elephant holes and tangled undergrowth. As there b 

 here a dip in the land the water which has lain since 

 the last floods cannot drain off, and even now it reaches 

 \v« 11 over the waist. 



On the path traversed by these boys I have been 

 walking through stinking water that crawled with insect 

 life, every now and then slipping on the ground under- 

 neath, warily treading through the trampled grass and 

 hidden growth. Perhaps you go from six in the morning 

 until seven at night, through water reaching up to the 

 armpits and full of ticks, frogs, dead lizards, and so 

 forth. Imagine, if you can, the porter with a sixty- 

 pound load on his head, or the mail boy by whom your 

 letter is carried, trying to force his way through great 

 stretches of country that are in this state. Your letter 

 will travel from Kampala to London via Gondokoro and 

 Khartoum for six cents, equivalent to one penny in 

 English money. Surely this is a great pennyworth ! 

 Only those who have been through the country can 

 realize the enormous difficulties that present themselves 

 daily to these post-boys. 



57 



