HOW WILD ANIMALS ARE CAUGHT 47 
matter of no small difficulty. Moreover, travellers’ tales 
about wonderful animals which are to be caught—but which 
never yet have been caught—send many expeditions upon 
fruitless errands. 
The Egyptian Sudan is one of the richest and most 
inexhaustible sources of animal life. This region is of enor- 
mous extent. One of those best acquainted with it, my old 
friend and faithful fellow-worker, Joseph Menges, the world- 
wide traveller, speaking of it, says: “Speaking widely, one 
can include in this area the whole of the North Abyssinian 
plain, which stretches from Massowah to the upper Blue Nile. 
The main hunting region consists, however, of the district of 
Taka, beginning in the east with the upper Chor Baraka, 
and ending in the west with the upper courses of the Rahad, 
a tributary of the Blue Nile.” 
This country consists largely of 
steppes, interspersed with bush, 
from which rise picturesque rocky 
hills, which in Abyssinia begin to 
assume the character of wild high- 
lands. The fauna of the country 
is wonderfully rich: the African 
elephant, the black rhinoceros, the 
hippopotamus, the giraffe, the 
lion, the panther, the hyzna, the 
hyzna-dog, the aard-wolf, the jackal, wild-asses, the Kaffr- 
buffalo, and many kinds of antelopes; also the wart-hog, the 
aard-vark, the porcupine, baboons, and other monkeys. The 
avifauna is also very rich: the swift-footed ostrich, the mara- 
bou, the secretary-bird, various kinds of vultures, the rhino- 
ceros-hornbill, francolins and others. Crocodiles, snakes, etc., 
make up the list of animals which can be hunted in this fruit- 
ful district. 
It is only natural that this wealth of fine animals, including 
most of the giants of the animal kingdom, should for a long 
time have attracted the attention of Europeans; and the 
At work. 
