38 SAVAGE SUDAN 



best with the breeze right astern, or at least on the 

 quarter. Often on that section we have to undergo the 

 laborious work of towing from the bank, or warping to 

 windward by kedges. 



Beyond Lake No (627 miles) the main Nile resumes 

 its southerly direction ; but at this point commences the 

 region of" Sudd," and here, for upwards of 300 miles, the 

 irregular course of the stream, winding through papyrus- 

 barriers, precludes navigation by sail. The "Sudd" can 

 only be negotiated by aid of towage. Once, however, 

 its southern limit has been reached, there opens out 

 another beautiful stretch of some 200 miles which is 

 navigable by sail. This brings the voyager not only to 

 the limits of the Anglo- Egyptian Sudan, but also to 

 those of all Nile navigation; since above Rejaf (1200 

 miles south of Khartoum) cataracts forbid further progress 

 afloat. 



It remains to add that the North Wind, so favourable 

 when voyaging southwards, absolutely precludes all hope 

 of returning by sail. From whatever point the traveller 

 may have reached, he must rely upon steam to find his 

 way back that is, in winter. 



Such, in bare outline, is the itinerary of a voyage on 

 White Nile. It was on December i8th, 1862, that Sir 

 Samuel Baker set sail from Khartoum on his memorable 

 voyage of discovery. Exactly half a century later, from 

 the same spot, our little gyassa cast off her moorings 

 to follow in his wake. But how changed were all the 

 conditions ! The Sudan, as Baker found it, was a 

 vortex of savagery ; and that savagery accentuated by 

 the corrupt and hypocritical power that then held it in 

 thrall a power more loathsome than savagery itself. 

 Slave-raiding, rapine, murder those were the staple 

 industries of an Egyptian Sudan. Baker's masterly 

 undertaking seemed to inaugurate the dawn of happier 

 days. His foundations were well and truly laid fore- 



