The railway will creep gradually southwards along the bank of the White Nile in all probability, but in the meantime the river will constitute the artery of communication. The waterway abounds with sand-bars and other obstructions to navigation which provide very little depth of water in some places, but the Sudan Development & Exploration Company have met this situation by the utilisation of steamers which draw extremely little water and are able to pass through the shallows in perfect safety. The Sudan Government also maintains a steamship connection between Khartoum and Gondoroko. This water link is about 1000 miles in length, and the round trip occupies about 23 days. A few years ago the possibility of being able to proceed so far up the river under steam was feared to be impracticable, owing to the dense masses of floating tangled masses of vegetation, or “sudd,” which blocked the river. But this has been broken up and a clear fairway is maintained. As a result, Uganda now has an outlet to the Mediterranean which can be developed considerably as the northern extremities of that country are opened up. Unfortunately, beyond Gondoroko the river cannot be used, because for about 100 miles--from Rejaf to Dufile--there is a continuous chain of rapids. These two points therefore will be connected by railway probably. When Dufile is gained the river can be used once more so far as Lake Albert Nyanza, where the line from Cape Town would be met, although there is a belief that the Sudan Government intends to push the railway to a far more southern point. It will be seen that although Rhodes’ great scheme was for a continuous steel road from north to south, this idea has had to be modified in order to meet unexpected conditions, which at the time of the railway’s inception were not apparent. In reality one will travel from the “Cape to Cairo” over a combined rail and water route longitudinally through the continent. At the present moment one can cover the whole journey by rail and water, except for a distance of about 600 miles, and this gap is being closed rapidly. As the settlement of the country along the line of communication becomes effected, and the heavy drawbacks incidental to transhipment become more and more emphasised, there is no doubt but that the water route will be superseded gradually by the railway, so that in time the original idea will be consummated, and trains will pass right through from the Cape to Cairo over a continuous path of steel some 6000 miles in length. CHAPTER XIII GRIDIRONING THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS