372 FROM THE NIGER TO THE NILE 



thread of the stream again on the farther side. This ran on 

 for another two and a half miles and finally disappeared in 

 the barrier of marsh and sudd which choked our passage. 

 It was impossible to cut through, and so I trekked on 



THE OLD BOAT BACK IK ENGLAND 



December 13, 1906, with the boat-sections a distanceof 

 thirty-eight miles to Gaba Shambi. 



At the end of a waterless day's march I had refreshed 

 myself at a water-hole by the roadside, and was lying down 

 to rest till Jose and the " boys," who were some way behind 

 with the boat-sections, should catch me up, when I saw a 

 string of donkeys approaching on the road from Gaba Shambi. 

 I was tired, and so lazily did I watch them that had they 

 vanished the next moment I should not have rubbed my 

 eyes. But as they came near I was suddenly aware that 

 behind the caravan rode a smart Englishman. In a moment 

 I was on my feet pressing forward to greet him. So good was 

 the sight of a fellow countryman, that this stranger might 

 have been a hfe-long friend of mine. " How are you ? " 

 I said, grasping his hand. He stared at me, and then I 



