xlvi INTKODXICTION. 



south winds which begin to blow at that period of the year. During the journey up 

 w T e stopped at Shederah, Mangara, Goz Shebesha, Rawa, Nur-ed-Daim, and Goz abu 

 Gumah, either on account of contrary winds or to tie the boat up for the night. At 

 each of these we collected fish, either by the casting-net or by using baited hooks at 

 night. The latter method gave excellent results, and at Goz abu Gumah Mr. Gunn 

 caught the first example of a new species of Synodontis (see p. 369). Between 

 Omdurman and Goz abu Gumah the Nile is broad, with low flat shores swarming 

 with ducks, geese, cranes, and waders ; the banks are in parts covered with large areas 

 of low bush, but large trees are rare, and many have been cut down for fuel. We 

 noticed numbers of cattle, sheep, and goats feeding along the banks. Very few fisher- 

 men were seen in this part of the river, but further south the Dinkas and especially the 

 Shilluks devote a good deal of time to spearing fish. At Goz abu Gumah the sudd 

 vegetation begins, and large tracts of grass appear by the river, the finest on the west 

 bank, and on the east heavy grass with a few trees. The river narrows to about 500 

 yards in width. The papyrus commences about 15 miles further south, and here 

 crocodiles become numerous. The natives of the west bank are Shilluks, whose 

 country extends from near Goz abu Gumah to within 60 miles of Lake No. On the 

 east bank are the Dinkas, whose country stretches from near Gebel Ain to the Sobat 

 River, on the other side of which are the Nuers. 



rig. 25. 



Two kinds of spears are used for fishing : one is bow-shaped, made of a long thin 

 piece of wood bent into the required form, from 12-14 ft. in length (see fig. 25). To 

 one end a line is attached, at the other end of the line is fastened a wooden peg in 

 which a barbed piece of iron is fixed ; this peg is let into the shaft hollowed out to 

 receive it. If a large fish is speared the peg becomes detached and allows the fisher- 

 man to use the shaft as a rod, playing the fish until it is exhausted. This form of spear 

 is used in shallow water, or in deeper water when fishing from a canoe. In the latter 

 case, if a large fish is speared, the shaft is dropped into the water, when the peg is 

 detached and thus acts as a float, preventing the fish from going deep and also showing 

 its whereabouts. There are two men in the canoe, one paddles and the other attends 

 to the fish. On one occasion we came across two Shilluks following a fish, which we 

 were told had been speared in the early morning but was not sufficiently exhausted for 

 them to be sure of landing it, which they hoped to do before nightfall. The spear is 

 used by grasping it in the middle with the hands wide apart, then drawn back and 



