130 SPORT IN THE EASTERN SUDAN 



January \Wi. Spent another fruitless night in 

 machan. The elephants turned up again and drank 

 at a little after 9 o'clock, and crossed over to my side 

 of the Settit, but took a path about 200 yards from 

 the machan. In the morning I found to my disgust 

 the track of a lion within 20 yards of the machan, 

 but by bad luck he had taken the wrong turn. So 

 much for taking chances. Decided to make another 

 machan where only one track was possible. Went to 

 the meshra in morning for bushbuck, but disturbed 

 them and nothing came down but a herd of koodoo, 

 with a moderate bull, at about 7.30. Then fixed on a 

 precipitous bank for an all-night sitting for lion by 

 the full moon, and spent a long and exhausting 

 morning fortifying it with thorn-bushes, not getting 

 back to breakfast until past one. Keturned to the 

 " labbada " in evening, and had cold tea and supper 

 there. My men ran almost into an elephant on the 

 road home, but fortunately were not molested. 



January \kth. Spent a disappointing night in 

 " labbada." Nothing showed at all but three giraffes, 

 which I did not want, at 1 a.m. on the opposite bank, 

 and I got a headache into the bargain. On top of all 

 this I found the tracks of a leopard a quarter of a mile 

 further up-stream in the morning. I stopped at the 

 bushbuck-meshra until 9 o'clock, seeing three lots of 

 koodoo and a female bushbuck, but nothing I wanted. 

 I then dismantled machan and returned to camp. 



