60 THE SOCIETY EOE THE PBESEBVATION OE 



THE WHITE NILE EEVISITED. 



By E. N. Buxton. 



In 1902 I followed the White Nile for some four hundred 

 miles above Khartoum, and, after four years' interval, at the 

 beginning of the year 1906 I again sailed up the river. On 

 the first occasion we were not allowed beyond Fashoda, but 

 things bavo marched since then, and this time we enjoyed some 

 further liberty, and spent a month in the neighbourhood, of Lake 

 No and on the affluents which join the main river near that 

 point. 



It occurred to me that from the point of view of our Society a 

 few notes on the game and inhabitants might be of interest. 



The most marked change I noted, immediately on leaving 

 Khartoum for the south, is in the great increase of cattle and 

 riverside population. It is not too much to say that the banks of 

 the White Nile from Khartoum southwards swarm with herds of 

 sheep and cows. Doubtless the owners do not all live close to the 

 river, but bring their flocks to water and to feed on the short grass 

 of the banks from considerable distances inland. The herdsmen 

 appear to bo mainly Arabs. This year they had taken their herds 

 far to the south of their customary limits. We found them every- 

 where on the west, bank as far south as Melut, and the Shilluks 

 seem to have retired somewhat before them. Between Eenk and 

 Kaka it was impossible to move a mile without encountering 

 herds and temporary Arab villages. Until recently, there was 

 much game on the western bank south of Jebel Ain. The result 

 of this immigration is seen in its diminished quantity near the 

 river, and the sportsman must travel considerable distances in 

 order to find it and then it is in smaller numbers. 



On our return journey down stream we made several halts to 

 give my companion the opportunity to shoot a buffalo. We saw 

 line herds on the eastern bank, generally accompanied by flocks of 

 the buff-backed egret, which birds are fond of perching on the 

 animals' backs. But that side is Eeserve and is of course forbidden 

 ground, and we found no sign of them on the western side. The 

 same was the case with white-eared cob, of which we saw great 

 herds in tantalising proximity, but none on our bank. Of roan 

 wo saw a few, and waterbuck were also scarce. Prom the huge 

 flights at sunset of storks, crested cranes and other fowl, to the 



