no SERVICE AND SPORT IN THE SUDAN 



fifty yards in diameter, on which were half a dozen 

 gazelle, of which I got two before they took to the 

 water. A sailor later got an animal like a badger in 

 the same place. 



We got only a few miles further with the steam- 

 boat, which so often grounded that I sent her back 

 to the wood. I myself, with my servant and three 

 others, in the Hyslop boat, began to pole my way 

 to where I had made out a dense forest that looked 

 like the bordure of a river. 



We poled till evening, making fair headway. What 

 with the heavy dew and bitter cold we were poling 

 by compass long before sunrise, but at about 9 A.M. 

 the thick grass and lack of depth of water rendered 

 that form of progress no longer possible. I climbed 

 the mast, made sure of the bearing of my wood, and, 

 getting out, prepared to walk to it. But before doing 

 so I fixed one of my sheets to the top of the mast — a 

 providential precaution. 



The grass was over our heads. I sat down several 

 times to rest. The driest place I did so was six 

 inches deep in water ; in another it was up to my 

 chin. At last the wood was reached. It was com- 

 posed of huge heglig trees, three feet or more in 

 diameter, standing in water eighteen inches deep. 

 To rest we climbed into the first forks. Tired as 

 we were we could not halt long. I marked the tree 

 by cutting seven notches on three sides of it with 

 an axe, and started back. My men lost the way, 

 but did not confess it till just before sunset. I at 

 once climbed to the top of a small mimosa, ignoring 



