NO. I 



THE WHITE RHINOCEROS HELLER 



5 



papyrus. During the afternoon the sight of a troop of a dozen 

 baboons peering at us from the crest of a small hill made a welcome 

 break in the voyage. These great ground monkeys displayed a 

 curious habit of climbing up the trees so as to get a better view of us. 



At four in the afternoon we stopped at a large native village to get 

 firewood for the launch, and also to allow the porters time to cook 

 their food. There were two villages here, both containing some fifteen 

 houses and surrounded by a stout boma or stockade of thorn trees. 

 Two small openings, less than three feet in height, placed at opposite 

 sides of the hedge were their only entrances. Near the entrance 

 to the principal village a newly constructed fish-trap was seen. This 

 was a large elliptical wicker basket with a depressel funnel-shaped 

 entrance which projected into the basket in much the same manner 

 as the entrance to our own lobster-pots and fish-traps. Traps of 

 this description were seen submerged along the shore, their position 

 being marked by a row of stakes which served as wings to lead 

 the fish into the trap. Quite a quantity of evil-smelling dried fish, 

 which formed one of the staple foods, was seen in the village. 

 Matama, or millet, and beans were also seen stored in the elevated 

 village graineries. Goats were the only domestic cattle seen there. 

 Sheep and cattle were apparently not able to resist the tsetse fly 

 diseases so prevalent near the Nile. A few sorrel colored Egyptian 

 dogs belonging to the village watched our movements with much 

 interest, but did not have courage enough to assert their authority as 

 guardians. 



We left this place at sundown and continued our course down the 

 river. At nine in the evening we dropped anchor in Rhino Bay, and 

 settled ourselves as best we could for the night amongst the chop 

 boxes and bales in the boats. The dawn found us enveloped in a light 

 river fog. When the fog lifted we discovered ourselves in a snug 

 little harbor with gently sloping shores and open broadly to the river 

 which flowed less than a hundred yards away. The immediate 

 vicinity of the bay had a pleasing park-like appearance. Groves of 

 large acacia trees were clustered about the higher ground above 

 it. Nearer the shore were a few large trees with dense green 

 foliage, which gave real shade. These were a species of Kigelia, 

 which bore a long, pendulous, sausage-like fruit. The country was 

 everywhere covered by a rank growth of long, course grass, which at 

 this season was dry. No palms were visible from our boats, but an 

 occasional candelabra euphorbia gave the landscape an African char- 

 acteristic touch. 



