336 A NATURALIST IN MID-AFRICA. 



the very best Indian regiments. Then, even with 

 a railway to the Nyanza, we should require roads 

 to be made, and the whole transport organised, 

 down to the training of bullocks and their drivers, 

 before we could reach the Upper Nile, on which a 

 sufficient number of steamers must be placed to 

 advance against the Mahdi. 



The second advantage is much less important. 

 There are no "breaks of bulk." But breaking of 

 bulk in a country where land can be had for the 

 asking and labour at a penny a day, is quite an 

 unimportant detail, and has scarcely to be taken 

 into consideration. 



So far we have only compared the routes to the 

 basin of the Victoria Nyanza, which is the object 

 of all the three roads considered. We must, how- 

 ever, specially in view of recent developments, 

 consider the wider problem of reaching the Upper 

 Nile. 



The country between the Albert Edward and 

 Albert Nyanzas and the Victoria is extremely 

 difficult. This arises from the fact that it is 

 intersected in every direction by enormously long, 

 eurved, and intricately meandering swamp-rivers. 

 These Mr. Stanley has called "rush-drains" ; but 

 they contain scarcely any rushes, and require 

 draining. 



A railway or even a bullock waggon track would 

 be a matter of enormous expense in this country, 

 as in whatever direction it is taken, numerous 



