SKETCHES IN THE SOUDAN 81 



dry to the north, had moved further south into the Baze" country 

 towards the flowing Mareh and Settit. Buffalo and elephants 

 had visited the piece of running water near our camp, and 

 refreshed themselves at it on their way south, and no doubt a 

 month before our visit the sport there would have been very 

 good, but now most of the herds had passed on, and the ground 

 had been greatly disturbed by native hunters, who had taken 

 advantage of it at the proper time, as the remains of rude 

 shelters and huts at the most likely places showed. We only 

 saw elephants twice, of which one was bagged, but never buffalo, 

 although we followed their spoor for many a long mile. 



On the parched plains to the north we found nothing but 

 giraffe, various kinds of antelope, and a few ostriches. The 

 latter are sought after by native hunters who follow their 

 employment singly, living for long periods of time alone in 

 some part of the desert known to be frequented by those wary 

 birds. Once I came upon one of these men, and found him 

 sitting in a natural hut formed by a thickly overhanging bush, 

 busily employed in making his ostrich traps. These consist of 

 a ring, 9 inches or so in diameter, twisted from the split leaf 

 stem of the dome-palm, through which all round, like the spokes 

 of a wheel, a number of pointed spikes of the same material are 

 passed, the tips almost meeting in the centre of the ring. 

 These traps are laid on the ground and lightly covered with 

 sand in places where ostriches are wont to congregate. Should 

 a bird step upon such a trap, his heavy foot in the loose sand 

 slips through the ring, the points closing again firmly upon the 

 leg, which, thus encumbered by the whole trap, makes the 

 ostrich a comparatively easy victim. Whether many are caught 

 by this somewhat primitive contrivance I could not ascertain ; 

 the hunter, a bald old man, was a curious specimen of his kind ; 

 his only clothing a narrow strip of leather round the loins, and a 

 few beads encircling his neck; his sole companion a donkey, 

 who fetched his weekly supply of water from the far-off water- 

 hole ; his only food some dry dhurra, his only arms a knife, 

 spear, and shield. 



Another picture of jungle life and I have done. 



One day, while stalking a koodoo with a remarkably fine pair 

 of horns, I heard, on reaching the crest of a low hill, frequently 

 repeated plaintive cries approaching me rapidly. Wondering 



7 



