i86 SERVICE AND SPORT IN THE SUDAN 



carcase they must have hidden the ivory, for I never 

 retrieved it. 



Not far from the spot was a small swamp near some 

 doleib palms. I should say here that west of the 

 longitude of Wau, in the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, there 

 is not a swamp that is the slightest impediment to 

 walking, except perhaps in heavy rains and before the 

 forest lires have burned dried tangled growths. 



The Kuru River, too, was near. It was about fifteen 

 yards wide, with banks nine feet high, a rocky bed 

 forming a number of pools, down which the water 

 trickled. Lovely trees, garlanded with creepers, hung 

 over the water in which they were mirrored. Seldom 

 have I seen anything more picturesque — but remember 

 Africa is a place where the big contrasts demand 

 superlatives. 



At the halts I plotted my map, and found that my 

 guide was bringing me much further west than the 

 route showed by Junker. Of course, on a march where 

 the men eat " belila," which is just dura grains boiled, 

 I could not allow myself any books, so occupied my 

 time thus. To correct his direction, the guide and I 

 climbed a small hill, twenty feet high, in front of us. 

 What a sight met our eyes I The ground fell away 

 quite 300 feet at a sharp slope. Below us we saw the 

 tops of the forest trees waving away to the horizon, 

 the surface broken here and there by small peaks. On 

 the horizon, too, in places showed small ranges. The 

 watershed must be miles west of the line marked by 

 French cartographers. 



My guide now knew where he was. I could barely 



