168 



FROM THE NIGER TO THE NILE 



an occasional pool of stagnant water which has been left 

 " high and dry " by the sudden fall of the river (if one may 

 be permitted the " bull "). Then the herbage on the banks 



NATIVE FISHING-NET ON THE P.IVER Y( 



is parched and the grass burns up in the fierce sun, and the 

 herdsmen lead their hungry herds and flocks down to the 

 shores of the lake where the short grass survives in the 

 heavy dews. 



The erstwhile fisherman is not idle while his nets grow 

 brittle in the heat, for now all day long he toils laboriously, 

 drawing up water with a calabash to fill the dykes in his 

 little patch of corn. The women, who before dipped their 

 water-pots in the river, take journeys to the distant well, 

 and all men go armed with three spears in fear of the 

 Tubu robbers who can now cross the river to raid. So they 

 patiently work and wait, till one day the rumour is spread 

 that the river is coming, and presently a breathless runner 



