A SUBJECT FOR ARGUMENT 199 gone, without the poHteness of such explanation.

Verily, here in Shilluk-land the suffragette might well turn the tables, and say : " Vanity, thy name is man."

The inhabitants of Tewfikieh would deem that one of the principal features of the place had been scurvily treated if mention were not made of the two elephant skulls which stand by the door of the officers' mess. One will gravely give you the history that they are relics of Baker's prowess in the days of his sojourn with big-bore muzzle-loaders, and then proceed to smile at you for falling a victim to fable ; another will heartily vouch for its accuracy. What can the poor visitor do in such turmoil of testimony ? Perhaps the balance lies in favour of the truth of the stateinent, as they are certainly old ; Baker was a great elephant shot, was at Tewfikieh, there are no witnesses against him and no other claimant.

The influence of the " sudd " country to the south seemed to be made evident here, for the temperature was steamy and hot to a degi'ee 102 degrees in the shade. Little relief came at night, and the settlement looked like a miniature Cowes from the river, owing to the unusual number of nuggars and steamboats crowding the bank, their multitudinous hghts mingling with those on the shore.

Only a few miles separate us from the point where the Sobat, the most southern of the Abyssinian rivers (save the less important Asua),