94 SPOET IN THE EASTERN SUDAN 



Finally I fired, when there followed dead silence. 

 For a quarter of an hour there were no developments, 

 but I heard a breath being drawn occasionally, and 

 made a serious blunder in not firing another barrel 

 into the mass. Suddenly a tail went up in the air, 

 and some animal moved off to the left, growling. 

 The remainder of the night was spent in listening 

 to growls six or seven paces off on my left, and 

 congratulating myself on possessing a stout roof. 

 At daybreak 0. turned up, the entire neighbour- 

 hood having been roused by the report of the '500 

 Express, and asked if it were safe to approach. I 

 replied in the negative, which received corroboration 

 from another growl. I asked 0. to come along the 

 front and cover me while I crawled out of the hole. 

 This he very kindly did, and a risky retirement in the 

 face of the enemy was successfully concluded. Then 

 0. and I joined forces, and our men threw stones into 

 a thick clump of bushes whence the last growls had 

 proceeded. An animal was dislodged, but declined 

 to charge, and went into a thick clump of nabbuk 

 without giving a chance of a shot. Some of the men 

 said it was a leopard badly crippled behind. The next 

 move was to adjourn for chota hazri, after which we 

 sallied out with axes, stones, etc., with the intention 

 of cutting a path into the nabbuk. This was done for 

 some ten paces, when it got very thick indeed, and I 

 began to try to fire the patch. However, Mahomed 



