16 SAVAGE SUDAN 



definition refers to health. It is nothing less than Afric's 

 due that I should place on record the fact that after each 

 strenuous expedition (alike in Equatoria and the Sudan) 

 I have returned home invigorated and rejuvenated. I 

 deprecate this remark being construed as purely personal 

 much less egotistic. It is written in no such sense. 

 Health and strength (to say nothing of a renewal of 

 youth!) are objects of prime importance to all : hence this 

 experience of mine may have a value to others. That it is 

 no mere passing fancy but a verdict based on years of 

 personal experience, will be demonstrated by a reference 

 to my On Safari, p. 7, wherein, a dozen years ago, I 

 expressed the identical opinion as regards East Africa 

 which I now confirm respecting the Sudan. 



Merely to hang about the verandah of some hotel 

 at Khartoum or Nairobi, imbibing iced drinks, would 

 certainly fail to produce the results specified. But a good 

 hard winter's work on the outer veld is, in my case, 

 equivalent to adding, shall I say ? a couple more years to 

 " Life on the First Letter." Now, after that advertise- 

 ment, the Sudan Government may well "buck up" and 

 present the author with the freedom of their country 

 for life! 



Appropriately may here be mentioned an incidental 

 advantage that the Sudan offers to those already past the 

 meridian of life. The Upper Nile can be exploited by sail 

 for upwards of 1 200 miles, with far less strenuous physical 

 labour than is demanded by every other African hunting- 

 field. The traveller lives afloat aboard his gyassa (a sort 

 of sailing house-boat), taking along all necessaries 

 luxuries, too, if required and from this mobile base 

 commands the bulk of the game-country since in the 

 dry season all animal-life is dependent upon the river 

 itself. To this extent the Sudan practically prolongs the 

 period of life available for African hunting. Personally, 

 I was well within the seventh decade ere setting foot 

 therein. 



