72 UGANDA AND THE EGYPTIAN SOUDAN.

seemed to be holding her breath in expectation of the blast. Nearer and nearer came the storm, its approach being marked by clouds of sand, grass, leaves, and twigs which were whirled along by the gale; darker and darker grew the sky, while, strangest sight of all, a beautiful rainbow spanned the gloomy storm-clouds from which the lightning flashed vividly and the thunder pealed incessantly. We hurried on, hoping to find some shelter, but not a tree was to be seen for miles, and scarcely a bush which could afford the smallest hope of protection from the storm. At last the tempest burst upon us a furious blast of wind, a blinding cloud of sand, a few heavy drops of rain, and then a torrent as if the flood-gates of heaven had been opened. The wind was so tremendous that the rain came almost horizontally, and it was with difficulty that we could keep our feet. We were wet through almost instantly, being quite unprepared for such a deluge. The face of the plain, which had been as dry as the desert, in a few minutes became a gigantic swamp, and we struggled on ankle-deep in mud and water, drenched by the rain, blinded by the lightning, and almost carried off our feet by the wind, till we reached a solitary bush which somewhat broke the force of the tempest ; here we stood shivering till the storm abated a little, and then we set off again, and came up with the caravan, halting by the side of a small ravine, the porters looking as miserable as only