lyS SERVICE AND SPORT IN THE SUDAN 



of pounds of dates as a present — fee I called it, as 

 I joyfully ate them. The sheikh of the village, 

 Gurdud, hearing that a post was to be established 

 in it, was suddenly struck down by a disease which, 

 I think, consisted principally of groans and a liberal 

 application of paste to his neck. I think / cured 

 him ! When I met him later he said I had ! 



From Kabalosu I struck south for Ragaa. The 

 track was over undulating country. Fairly high hills 

 lay to east and west, and every now and then we 

 crossed small plateaux on the summit of high rocky 

 ridges — almost hills. There was no difficulty about 

 water. Indeed, so limpid were the streams and so 

 green the surrounding ground in places, that I might 

 have fancied myself in Europe, were it not for the 

 scattered doleib palms and the intense heat. 



We had been marching continuously for four hours 

 when we reached the Boru River one evening, having 

 marched six in the morning. I was watering my 

 donkey opposite a bush-covered island, and accom- 

 panied only by a guide and orderly, when a lion in it, 

 a few yards off, began to roar. The river was about 

 70 yards wide, banks 15 feet high, and approached 

 through high grass for some distance on either side. 

 I fired my rifle into the darkness, and for a moment 

 the roaring ceased, but began before we had finished 

 watering. As all the surrounding country had just 

 been burned it was evident that the game had fled, 

 so I did not feel over happy when approaching the 

 place I had selected for camp. The following morn- 

 ing I found that the lion had clawed at and cruelly 



