VOYAGE UP WHITE NILE 



65 



that is, in the dry season the "khors" are simply 

 broad stagnant ditches, from a foot or so to ... I know 

 not what maximum depth. Traversing blind cane-jungles 

 8 or 10 feet high, neither their depth nor extent can be 

 foreseen. You first realise the presence of a "khor" by 

 finding yourself sinking in bog : you may push ahead and 

 get through the first 

 easily ; the next is knee- 

 deep ; a third comes. 

 The canes, meeting 

 overhead, are here 

 taller and stronger; the 

 mephitic morass is 

 waist-deep, yet there is 

 no indication of its 

 ending. A criss-cross 

 of fallen canes, both 

 above and below the 

 surface, arrests every 

 step. An elephant or 

 a buffalo passes such 

 places with ease ; an 

 average man cannot. 

 Personally I retire when 

 the morass reaches 

 much over my knees. 



This morning (Jan- 

 uary 28th) we won PIED KINGFISHER. 

 through, despite the 



darkness before dawn. Then in the gloom appeared 

 two savages, great stalwart blacks, practically naked, 

 and each bearing a spear with a head like a coal-shovel 

 I afterwards measured one of these murderous lance- 

 heads, 15 by 5! inches. The strangers seemed friendly 

 and joined us uninvited. "Abdul whispered " Bad Arab 

 Baggara"; but whatever sentiments may have occupied 



my own mind whether of suspicion, doubt, or resent- 



E 



