THE BLUE NILE AND ROSEIRES 245 



entertained by the district engineer, Mr. L. Met 

 my new shikari, Hassan, with his son, waiting for 

 me ; and Mr. L. very kindly lent me his own syce for 

 a couple of days, as he knows the ground near 

 Suleil. Got off again at 3 p.m., decidedly late, 

 intending to march to some village in the forest, and 

 about 7 p.m. was belated, discovering in addition 

 that the f antasses were empty ; but as the night was 

 cool, we made the best of it. Fired seven ineffectual 

 shots without securing a single guinea-fowl. Sixes 

 not the size. Saw a gazelle, but the bleating of the 

 goats spoiled any chance of a shot. Saw two very 

 shy oribi. 



May 29th. Marched at daybreak and reached the 

 village, Douema, in less than an hour. There was an 

 excellent Government well, the water-level being 

 about 30 feet below the surface; and this village would 

 obviously be the taking-off point for sportsmen from 

 the Blue Nile bound for the Galegu and Rahad. In 

 my opinion Government acts much more wisely in 

 building such wells as this than in embarking on 

 ambitious irrigation schemes. The Sudan wants the 

 multiplication of hamlets, and not the concentration 

 of its inhabitants in the Gezireh. Here I shot five 

 guinea-fowl and a francolin, and presented two of the 

 former to the Sheikh. There was no news of koodoo, 

 though roan and buffalo were said to be fairly plenti- 

 ful. Indeed, we had seen fresh tracks of the latter. 



