THE RAHAD EIVER 213 



nating with bare black cotton-soil and scrub. I fired 

 the grass on the left bank of the Rahad, but nothing 

 showed, and I decided not to waste time in halting. 



April Ylih. Got off at 7 a.m. and marched till 

 11 a.m. say 10 miles. After a mile we struck 

 the 40-feet line between Gallabat and Senga, and 

 marched along it. On the road I shot a guinea-fowl, 

 and an oribi of 3f inches. The place where we struck 

 the road seems to be marked on my map Sangerfont, 

 but the distances on the map are all wrong. The 

 country still unpromising from a sporting standpoint, 

 and totally uninhabited, there being next to no marks 

 of usage on the 40-feet line. In the afternoon I 

 examined the river-bed, and found it to be a regular 

 thoroughfare for buffalo. Less than half a mile from 

 camp there was a crash in the grass above, and away 

 went a herd that had got our wind. We took up the 

 trail, and when it crossed the river again, found that 

 we were after three bulls. The grass was hopeless 

 close to the river, where the bulls were lying, but 

 became practicable further out, though it was un- 

 luckily impossible to move without noise. A reed- 

 buck went off quite close to us, which R., who 

 certainly tracked in first-class form, took to be the 

 buffalo, and ran to get a view. This was very un- 

 lucky, as the herd were 100 yards away at the time, 

 in fairly open ground, and we saw them next moment, 

 all with their heads up, and fully aware of our 



