CHAPTER FOURTEEN 



WHITE RHINOCEROSES 



WFERE the River Nile flows as a sluggish stream 

 between wide expanses of papyrus swamp, and 

 the sun pours down a deadly heat, there still exist, in 

 a small area, a few white rhinoceroses, the third largest 

 of hving land mammals. 



After the shower at Pakwach, we headed inland. 

 The trail we followed resembled a road, but we were 

 the first to ever attempt its passage in motor trucks. 

 Every culvert caved in, while most of the ground was 

 so soft that we found it necessary to pull in low gear 

 for many miles. Naked people ran out from the vil- 

 lages to gaze in wonder as we passed, for they had 

 never seen a motor car before. Laughing and shout- 

 ing, they w'ould run after us like a lot of children, until 

 the trucks outdistanced them. We stopped at Alui 

 for lunch, finding here a boy who spoke Swahili. He 

 gave us the cheerful news that many deep ravines were 

 ahead — that some were bridged, but most were not. 

 During the day, the second truck went through a cul- 

 vert, breaking a rear spring, while hours of driving in 

 low gear had burned out the clutch. 



We camped the first night at Ngal, and hardly had 

 the equipment been unloaded when a group of naked 

 native girls arrived with water, firewood, eggs, and 

 fowls. The camp was now plentifully supplied with 

 meat, for I had made another fluke shot that afternoon, 



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