CHAPTER XII 



An arduous march — Chakchak — The Sultan Atiok Chiok — The Dinkas — 

 I return by a different route — Big game — The elephant and the cock 

 — Nasr Andal — Sultan Musa Hamed's capital — Two of the "walking- 

 round-the-world-for-nothing " fraternity — Virgin country. 



I STAYED one day in Kossinga, and, leaving all but 

 a few men behind me, started for the village of 

 Chakchak, capital of a portion of the Dinkas. I 

 unfortunately had not learned wisdom enough not 

 to trust the map I had, so, though warned that I 

 would find no water for many miles east of the 

 Sopo, a few miles from Kossinga, I started, without 

 any riding animal, to walk. The guide at first lost 

 his way, so, although I started at 2 A.M., it was almost 

 dawn before I crossed the Sopo — a broad, sandy river, 

 very different from its rocky self I had crossed before. 

 We walked till 8 a.m., from 9 A.M. to 2 P.M., from 

 3 to 5.30 P.M., and from 6 to 11 P.M., or eighteen 

 hours, going mighty strong. For quite two hours 

 before reaching our destination we could hear the 

 noggara (drums) being beaten, and found on arrival 

 that a great dance was in progress. We were parched 

 indeed, not having drunk since about 9 A.M. My 

 men, old soldiers, who within the week had all but 

 mutinied, took the greatest care of me. They would 

 have piled their own blankets on a sort of rude couch 



