332 FROM THE NIGER TO THE NILE 



gave our boat superior pace, and we were overhauling 

 them fast, when realising that flight was hopeless they hove 

 to. As we neared them their headman came wading 

 towards us with two large fish in his hands as a peace- 

 ofEering. There were about twenty canoes in the fleet, each 

 carrpng three men, and piled with nets. They were bound 

 with their catch for some baga, but we could not get 

 much information as we had no one with us who could 

 speak their language. They were a remarkably fine-looking 

 lot of men, of heavy, muscular build, very sleek and 

 glossy of skin, as are all Budumas from their habit of 

 living almost entirely on fish. They also anoint them- 

 selves with oil, extracted from the heads of the fish, as 

 a protection against the harmful effects of their long 

 immersions in the water. 



We found we had calculated our direction to a nicety, 

 and soon were sailing into the basin at the mouth of the Yo. 

 Here a wonderful scene presented itself, which came upon us 

 as a strange contrast after the days of wandering in lone- 

 liness upon the Lake. For, suddenly we were in the midst 

 of a great variety of life, and everywhere around us was a 

 sense of bustle and stir. Smoothly we sailed into the 

 deeper water of the basin, and as we neared the land the 

 line of green trees told out beyond the level of burnt-up 

 grass and sand, and we could discern herds of cattle and 

 flocks of sheep with their shepherds. Against the island 

 sand-banks which lie across the mouth of the river, rows 

 of canoes were riding between piles like gondolas, and on 

 the islands the owners were working in little groups, dry- 

 ing fish or mending nets ; while flying round them and 



