388 RHINOCEROS OF THE LADO [ch. xiy 
Moon. On our left hand rose the frowning ranges, on 
the other side of which the Congo forest lies like a 
shroud over the land. On our right we passed the 
mouth of the Victorian Nile, alive with monstrous 
crocodiles, and its banks barren of human life because 
of the swarms of the fly whose bite brings the torment 
which ends in death. As night fell we entered the 
White Nile, and steamed and drifted down the mighty 
stream. Its current swirled in long curves between 
endless ranks of plumed papyrus. White, and blue, 
and red, the floating water-lilies covered the lagoons 
and the still inlets among the reeds ; and here and there 
the lotus lifted its leaves and flowers stiffly above the 
surface. The brilliant tropic stars made lanes of light 
on the lapping water as we ran on through the night. 
The river horses roared from the reed beds, and snorted 
and plunged beside the boat, and crocodiles slipped 
sullenly into the river as we glided by. Toward morn¬ 
ing a mist arose, and through it the crescent of the 
dying moon shone red and lurid. Then the sun flamed 
aloft, and soon the African landscape, vast, lonely, 
mysterious, stretched on every side in a shimmering 
glare of heat and light; and ahead of us the great, 
strange river went twisting away into the distance. 
At midnight we had stopped at the station of Koba, 
where we were warmly received by the District Com¬ 
missioner, and where we met half a dozen of the 
professional elephant hunters, who for the most part 
make their money, at hazard of their lives, by poaching 
ivory in the Congo. They are a hard-bitten set, these 
elephant poachers ; there are few careers more adven¬ 
turous, or fraught with more peril, or which make 
heavier demands upon the daring, the endurance, and 
the physical hardihood of those who follow them. 
