356 FROM THE NIGER TO THE NILE 



who had the biggest lungs, filled them out and blew with all 

 their might, and a little flame leapt up and was dexterously 

 caught into a sheaf of dry grass held ready by Lowi. Then 

 fires were lit and " chop " was cooked, so that we succeeded 

 in getting warm both inside and out. 



By nine o'clock we were once more moving, groping our 

 way through a dense mist left by the heavy rain. For the 

 next six miles the river was very bad ; in places the boat 

 had to be unloaded and dragged over the rocks to avoid 

 the chutes, which were tremendous. 



Here the river in appearance ceases to exist, and the 

 water pours itself as best it may over the slabs of rock with 

 which the length and breadth are strewn. 



In this distance, as far as Wandi, there are at least six 

 big rapids, culminating near that place in a veritable chute. 

 At the one before the last we had a very narrow escape of 

 being smashed up. We had been going in smooth water for 

 a time carelessly, when suddenly the current became strong, 

 and on rounding a corner we descried to our horror the foam 

 of a great rapid. The boat was carried helplessly along, 

 each second nearing the steep, and the poles were quite 

 useless to check the increasing impetus. The next moment 

 she crashed heavily against a large dead limb of a tree and 

 stuck. But for this there would have been nothing to hope 

 for. 



It was dusk and a heavy storm was raging when we arrived 

 at Wandi ; we were dead-tired, for it had been a long day of 

 conflict with the rocks. 



Wandi, a small Belgian station close to the junction of 

 the Yei and Tori, was formerly occupied by the Dervishes, 



