198 SPOET IN THE EASTERN SUDAN 



any description, and as the feline denizens of this 

 locality had obviously taken notice to quit, I dis- 

 mantled the machan. I spent the morning looking 

 for bustard with my 16-bore and buckshot. A miss-fire 

 lost me a fair chance, and I missed two birds, and also 

 a gazelle at 100 yards. The reedbuck appear to 

 have left also, and directly my dourra arrives, the 

 sooner I leave myself the better. In the afternoon 

 I was serenaded by the women of the village, presum- 

 ably on account of the death of the lioness. This 

 involved a present of two dollars, and ultimately I left 

 the camp at 2 p.m. as the easiest way of getting 

 rid of them. The afternoon round proved unproduc- 

 tive. I saw half a dozen reedbuck, but none worth 

 shooting. In the evening I went out again, and saw 

 several oribi, but did not get a shot. Finally, I 

 wound up an unsuccessful day by missing an ariel at 

 100 yards. 



March 31st. Spent the night in bed. A leopard 

 roared freely in the direction of the old machan. In 

 the morning I went in that direction to look for the 

 big bushbuck, and just before reaching it I saw him in 

 the reeds at 80 yards. The first shot was a miss, but 

 he only ran 20 yards, and stood, and the second 

 shot told distinctly. He ran 50 yards further and 

 stood again, when I missed right and left, but all these 

 shots were more or less obscured by the reeds. We 

 then took up the trail and found quantities of blood. 



