268 SERVICE AND SPORT IN THE SUDAN 



ant caused immense losses. Landed on a bale of 

 cotton, he would drive through it like a hot poker 

 might. To this was added the loss incidental to 

 leaking roofs. 



An asset of the province was a big cock ostrich. 

 His feathers supplied the Jehadia with their badge — a 

 bunch of them in their tarbush. When first I knew 

 him he lorded it over a harem of five. These died, 

 I think ; anyhow, on my return from Dem Zubeir, 

 I found the cock a widower, in a pen not two yards 

 square. If given a bigger one he jumped over the 

 seven foot high palisade, and gave chase to any one 

 he saw. I heard that if one managed to hit him on 

 the neck with a pole or a well-aimed block of wood it 

 took the fight out of him. I had no ambition to try. 



I had to make a trip to Khartum for an examina- 

 tion, but I lost no time in getting back to Wau. 

 I had left it at the close of the rains, so had to 

 march from Meshra on my return. This fitted in 

 well with my work. The first half of the road ran 

 over rather low ground, broken here and there with 

 insignificant swamps. The western half ran over hard, 

 rocky, and well wooded country. 



On our journey north we had been considerably 

 delayed by sudd blocks. It took the mail steamer, 

 on which we were, and a heavy gunboat, which started 

 two hours behind us, forty-nine hours to get past one 

 barrier in the Bahr el Ghazal, working all we knew, 

 and provided, as we were, with a large party of profes- 

 sional sudd-cutters from the mouth of the Bahr el 

 Arab, whom we were taking on leave. 



