2 SAVAGE SUDAN 



thousand miles southward (excepting the interruption of 

 the Sudd) fertile plains border the Nile, every mile of 

 them deep black "cotton-soil," the alluvial deposit of age- 

 long Nile-floods, and all capable subject to irrigation 

 of producing perennial crops of grain, cotton, and coffee. 

 These introduced products, supplemented by the natural 

 yields from rubber, fibre, gum, and other indigenous 

 tropical plants, will in the years to come reinforce the 

 resources of the British Empire. At present the fat years 

 must remain a dream of the future ; meanwhile the big- 

 game hunter may enjoy his passing day. 



The human inhabitants of these vast southern regions 

 are exclusively the aboriginal black tribes, still absolutely 

 and delightfully "savage," since Arab colonisation (as 

 distinguished from mere slave-raiding) never penetrated 

 beyond the southern fringe of the Deserts. 



To the hunter-naturalist the facts set forth convey a 

 forceful appeal ; for to him they imply nothing less than 

 the survival of a Terrestrial Paradise and, in my case, a 

 preliminary survey promptly proved that the presumption 

 was correct. As a hunting-field, Sudan stands not first, 

 but certainly among the foremost of those still extant, 

 and in some respects, unique ; while for the study of bird- 

 life the basin of Upper Nile forms a focal point hardly 

 to be excelled. Even the Deserts possess a fascination 

 of their own, though to my regret the interruption of 

 the War has prevented a more complete exploration 

 of their further recesses. But I have no desire to make 

 extravagant claims for the Sudan, and later in this 

 chapter have drawn up a careful comparative analysis 

 of its advantages and disadvantages in relation to other 

 regions of Africa and elsewhere. 



There is, of course, an obverse to every picture. 

 Enthusiasm may be content to ignore the fact, but that 

 is hardly ingenuous. Africa possesses minor drawbacks 

 in infinite variety. Everything is hard : whatever you 

 touch is apt to hurt, to pierce and lacerate. Twenty- 



