ACROSS LAKE CHAD 231 



Buduma. They " no savee " singing, nor do they 

 possess an instrument of any kind. 



Passage is peculiarly easy between the islands, for 

 both men and women use floats made from the ambach 

 wood. These are about eight feet in length, as thick 

 as a man's leg, and a great deal lighter than cork. 

 One end is curved, and acts as a prow ; it rises a few 

 inches out of the water and cuts through it at great 

 speed. The Buduma bestrides and propels it with an 

 over-arm action, at the rate of a fast runner. It is 

 said to require great nicety of balance, and the 

 novice finds it extremely difficult to retain his seat, 

 though, like bicycling, once the art is acquired it is 

 never lost. 



This custom is not confined to the Buduma : one 

 hears of it on the Upper Nile and on the sacred 

 lake of Dahomey, and it will be remembered that 

 Homer described how " Odysseus bestrode a single 

 beam, as one rideth on a courser, . . . and fell prone 

 into the sea, outstretching his hands as one eager to 

 swim." The Buduma avails himself of the lightness 

 of these ambach floats to carry one with him as his 

 constant companion, so that he may "walk for water" 

 or land at will ; nor does he refrain from fear of 

 crocodiles. There are some in the lake, but they do 

 not seem to molest humans, and we neither saw one 

 nor heard of any accidents. The danger is from 

 djinns 100 feet long, for if a man should inadver- 

 tently set eyes on one, the djinn slaps him in the 

 face, so that he dies. 



There are countless waterways in this part of the 

 lake, between island and island, making it like a 

 gigantic Venice. It seems curious that the Buduma 



