SOURCE OF THE NILE 307 



While the crew was unloading a few goods and some 

 cases of gasoline, I photographed the natives who 

 were grouped on the pier. The most noticeable thing 

 about this savage crowd was their nakedness. The 

 men wore a scanty bit of cloth or skin, but most of 

 the women were absolutely naked. In other parts of 

 this dark continent I have gazed upon nude men by 

 the hundreds, but this was the first time naked women 

 had come under my observation. A few of them wore 

 a small bunch of grass suspended from a string around 

 the waist, and a half dozen had blossomed out in 

 brightly colored caHco. These people were members 

 of the Alulu tribe, who, like their neighbors, the Lug- 

 wari, are opposed to their women wearing anything 

 that hides the body. What a contrast to the Africa 

 we had just left behind — this was the Belgian Congo I 



Leaving Mahaji Port, we steamed past the mouth 

 of the Victoria Nile where it empties into Albert 

 Nyanza, then out of the lake into the Nile itself. 

 As we paddled down the river in the darkness, some 

 lights loomed ahead, and not long afterwards the 

 "Samuel Baker" was tied alongside the river boat 

 "Lugard," to which all of our goods were transferred. 

 The latter was built for shallow water, only requiring 

 two feet to keep it afloat. There is very httle organi- 

 zation on these river steamers, the black men doing 

 everything from piloting the boat to stoking the furnace. 

 The white captain simply supervises and commands. 

 Considering that these Negroes are only a few years 

 removed from raw savages who know nothing of 

 boats except how to row a dugout, it speaks well of 

 their adaptability and lends encouragement to our 

 belief in their ultimate progress. 



