i6o



Mr. Richard Staples-Browne,



goes to Kordofan, and liere are brought large quantities of gum

for shipment. After leaving the town one finds that the banks

of the river are more wooded. The trees are mostly Acacias.

There are some fields of doorah. On the banks I saw several

Demoiselle Cranes ( Grus virgo). Buff-backed Herons ( ' Ardea bu-

bulcus ) and some Cormorants (. Phalacrocorax car bo). Several

crocodiles were seen basking at the river’s edge. At five p.m.

we stopped for wood at a small village called Edbekki. It con¬

sisted of a few' conical straw 7 huts inhabited by a mixed population

of arabs and negroes. Some of our party went shooting and

brought back some Blue-wattled Guinea Fowls ( Numida ptilo-

ihyncha) and Spur-w'inged Plovers {Hoplopterous spinos 7 is), both of

which subsequently proved excellent on the table. A specimen

of the Equatorial Palm Dove ( Turtur senegalensis aequatorialis ,

was also shot. I found several nests of the Ethiopian Weaver

Bird ( Quelea quelea aethiopica) on the bushes overhanging the

river. There were several monkeys about, probably the Grivet

Monkey (Cei copithecus aethiops ). After leaving the wood-station

we passed several backwaters and low islands covered with reeds,

on one of which I saw our first Papyrus. During dinner this

evening the sky was lighted up by an enormous bush fire.


Feb. 3rd. We arrived at Kosti shortly after midnight and

tied up till dawn, so as to pass through the new White Nile

Bridge (Rabalc), which had to be opened for us, at seven a.111.

The bridge carries the new railway which is being constructed

to Kordofan. At ten a.111. we stopped at a wooding station and I

went along the river bank through the coarse grass. I saw

several Abdim Bey’s Storks and some Paradise Whydali Birds

(Vidua parcidisea) which were in beautiful plumage. We are

now well in the country of the Shilluks, the northermost negro

tribe on the river. I met two of their spearmen carrying a fine

Python (P. sebae ) which they had just killed in the rushes. I

measured the snake and found it over nine feet in len glh. A

great quantity of the empty shells of a large snail (? Ampullaria)

were strewn along at the water’s edge. I11 the afternoon we con¬

tinued our journey and passed through a coarse grass country and

a little forest land. We saw several hippopotami in the river.

Generally only the head was visible above water, I saw some



