454 
THE GIANT ELAND 
[CH. XV 
at the foot of a tree in which a fish eagle was perched ; 
and one evening Dr. Mearns saw some guinea-fowl go 
to roost in a bush in which two kites had already settled 
themselves for the night, the kites and the guineas 
perching amiably side by side. 
We stopped at the mouth of the Sobat to visit the 
American Mission, and were most warmly and hos¬ 
pitably received by the missionaries, and were genuinely 
impressed by the faithful work they are doing, under 
such great difficulties and with such cheerfulness and 
courage. The Medical Mission was especially interest¬ 
ing. It formed an important part of the mission work ; 
and not only were the natives round about treated, but 
those from far away also came in numbers. At the 
time of our visit there were about thirty patients, 
taking courses of treatment, who had come from 
distances varying from twenty-five miles to a hundred 
and fifty. 
We steamed steadily down the Nile. Where the 
great river bent to the east we would sit in the shade 
on the forward deck during the late afternoon and look 
down the long glistening water-street in front of us, 
with its fringe of reed-bed and marshy grassland and 
papyrus swamp, and the slightly higher dry land on 
which grew acacias and scattered palms. Along the 
river banks and inland were villages of Shilluks and 
other tribes, mostly cattle owners ; some showing slight 
traces of improvement, others utter savages, tall, naked 
men, bearing bows and arrows. 
Our Egyptian and Nubian crew recalled to my mind 
the crew of the dahabiah on which as a boy I had gone 
up the Egyptian Nile thirty-seven years before; 
especially when some piece of work was being done by 
the crew as they chanted in grunting chorus, “ Ya Allah, 
