THROUGH ELEPHANT GRASS AND WATER 



man on board, I had to do the baling, which in itself is 

 an art acquired only after some considerable practice. 

 Every time I scooped up the water with the little gourd 

 that did duty for a baling dish, it invariably fouled the 

 curved edge of the canoe, and the contents were dashed 

 all over me, and long before we reached the other side of 

 the river I was wet through. 



There are large numbers of hippopotami about here, 

 and a mile or so lower down they form a real danger to 

 small craft. About half a mile from where we were the 

 river is split into two channels by a large island of grass, 

 reeds and sudd. Islands similar to these further down 

 interfere greatly with the navigation of the river, especially 

 near Bora, where the Nile is about four miles in width. 

 At times it is almost impossible to see the current. Close 

 by here is the site of an old Soudanese station, now a relic 

 of the past. 



As it had taken about four hours to get the safari 

 across it was well into the afternoon before all were 

 landed, so I decided to camp some little way beyond the 

 village for the night. The natives around here are a 

 branch of the Lures, and I found them to be a very 

 respectable and quiet people, endowed with a love and 

 instinct of trading. They are not brave by any means. 

 They decorate themselves with heavy brass and iron 

 rings round their necks and arms, some smear themselves 

 over with a dull reddish pigment of ant-heap or clay. 

 I have also seen them powdering up some of the 

 native red bricks from the ruins of an old Belgian Boma, 

 which stood slightly north of the village. After crushing 

 the bricks they mix water with the powder, making a 

 fairly thickish paste, which is applied to all parts of the 

 body as well as the hair. 



I was much struck when passing the first bunch of 

 houses, or grass huts, to see nothing but the young women 

 and girls sitting around, most of them engaged in drying 



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