THE BLUE NILE AND ROSEIEES 251 



June $th. In the morning we went to Gebel Maba, 

 jumping a small roan antelope on the way. At the 

 foot of the hill we disturbed a female bushbuck and 

 two or three oribi, and then found fresh tracks of a 

 large herd of koodoo, which finally led straight up the 

 hill. Unluckily, when coming round a spur, one of 

 the does detected us from the opposite slope, some 

 250 yards off, and gave the usual warning grunt, 

 when the whole herd bolted without giving us a 

 chance of even seeing the size of the bull. We then 

 returned to the ravines, passing numerous fresh 

 tracks of roan and a few of waterbuck. Although 

 we twice found fresh tracks of koodoo, each time 

 they ended by leaving the ravines and going off 

 straight to the hill, a distance of 3 miles across black 

 cotton-soil like dough, which we did not care to face 

 twice in the same day on an off-chance. In the 

 afternoon, however, we took up the tracks of the 

 second koodoo, a solitary bull, which led us straight 

 to Gebel Maba, and I soon realised that H. had 

 blundered badly in not taking my advice, when I 

 suggested that we should climb to the top of the hill, 

 instead of prospecting round the foot, for at the 

 extreme top of the spur nearest the river I detected 

 the bull koodoo, a magnificent specimen of 50 inches 

 or more. It was not at all to the credit of my two 

 shikaris that I should be the first to see him. He 

 was staring hard in our direction, and at a distance of 



