CREATURES OF THE WILDERNESS 195 



minated in the tribal warfare of Mahdiism and 

 in border forays with the Abyssinians, and 

 even as far back as 1899, when the benefits 

 of British protection reached the Eastern Sudan, 

 only one family of the Hamran clan had out- 

 lived the terrible era of fire and sword, and 

 was dragging out its existence in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Gedaref. It is now, however, 

 well known that the Agar, or sword-hunter, 

 was not the monopoly of the Hamran tribe, 

 but an institution in most of the noble, horse- 

 riding Arab clans east of the White Nile, while 

 to the west of that river, in Kordofan and south 

 of Darfur, there are also mounted hunters, 

 who use the sword less than the spade-bladed 

 stabbing spear called kibbis. These intrepid 

 sword-hunters, whose tactics contrast curiously 

 with those of the cautious stalker armed with 

 the newest pattern of rifle, use their cold steel 

 on lion, elephant, or rhinoceros indiscrimi- 

 nately. They usually hunt in parties of three, 

 one acting as decoy and galloping in front 

 of the quarry, while the other two gallop 

 behind. One of these then dismounts, when 

 going full speed, and hamstrings the animal 

 on foot, using the sword double-handed, and 

 it is then comparatively easy to finish even an 

 elephant off, so helpless is it after the stroke. 

 For lions they have another stroke that cuts 

 clean through the spine. The giraffe, on the 



