A PRETTY PICTURE 279 



trees back with him. Some of these he left at Wau. 

 These came as companions to the orange trees I had 

 brought. I hope those who now enjoy the fruit 

 remember the planters thereof. Other fruit trees did 

 not exist, till their advent, in the Bahr el Ghazal. 



At one pool along the road I saw as pretty a picture 

 as could be seen. The pool was covered with water- 

 lilies. A little naked maiden was filling her " burma," 

 standing over her knees in the water. Against the 

 black satin of the skin of her thigh a well-blown white 

 flower was boldly outlined. I mentally called the 

 picture " Innocence." 



There was any amount of game along the road, but 

 the Dinka inhabitants had moved their villages away 

 from it. Near Gadein's were the villages of a Dinka 

 called Bok. This man used to boast that he never 

 bent the knee to a white man. His attitude to the 

 Government was well known, and was a subject of 

 sneers against it. As I was not allowed to go to his 

 own village, I determined to discomfit him. At the 

 rest-house near the village a number of Dinkas arrived 

 to talk to me. After a while I asked why Bok was not 

 there. I was told that he never spoke to white men. 

 " I see," said I ; " the rumour that he is a eunuch 

 must be true " (Dinkas go about naked). When my 

 interpreter translated the remark the audience became 

 hysterical. Before I left next day Bok sent a message 

 to say he particularly wished to see me. I was unable 

 to wait, but heard the outraged feelings of the gentle- 

 man brought him much in evidence when next a 

 British officer passed by. 



