"So don't venture near that rogue elephant," the captain continued, "as he would turn upon you if your shot was not instantly fatal, and you could not hope to get off as easily as we did from the whole herd of honest ones."
As they approached the Somerset River, or Victoria Nile, the ground became low and marshy, with long stretches of jungle and high grass that made it impossible to see more than a few yards in any direction, except upward at the sky. Even then there was not always a clear view, as the papyrus plants bent over the path and enclosed the travellers in a sort of natural arch. The opposite or south bank was higher, and consisted of a series of bluffs, which promised a firm footing. The swamp or marsh was exceedingly difficult for the horses; they sunk into the mud at every step, and two or three times Frank was obliged to dismount to allow his steed to extricate itself from a mud-hole. One of the dismountings was much more sudden than agreeable, as the youth was pitched over the animal's head without the least warning.
On the opposite bank was the military post of Foueira, the last station of the Egyptian troops in Central Africa, and on the borders of the territory of the King of Unyoro. It was the destination of Captain Mohammed and his company of soldiers, and for the present the destination of Frank Bassett. As Frank looked across the river--about a thousand feet in width--he saw a group of conical huts, surrounded by a stockade, and displaying the Egyptian flag from the summit of the central hut. A little to the left was another group of huts; and as a couple of elephants were standing near it Frank concluded that the second enclosure must be the stable for the huge beasts.
Several boats were at hand for ferrying the party over the river, but a difficulty arose concerning the transit of the horses.
The Nile was full of hippopotami and crocodiles, both of them dangerous enough, and the latter particularly so. To attempt to swim the horses over would have been certain death to them, as the crocodiles would have welcomed the animals as rare material for a feast. There was no raft provided for carrying them, and the only boats were 'dug-outs,' hollowed from the trunks of trees. They were simply canoes, not over three or at most four feet in width, and they shook from end to end when a man stepped into them. But unless the horses could be taken into them, there was no chance of crossing.