108 FROM THE NIGER TO THE NILE 



the wild geese and duck that were startled into flight, and the 

 jabiru storks, or "fathers of Chad" as the Hausas call them, 

 which flopped away so clumsily, that it seemed as if it were 

 an unaccustomed effort to their old bones and agitated 

 uncomfortably the flapping, red bags of their throats. 



After enjoying our mid-day " chop," we poled leisurely 

 for a mile up the river and pitched camp for the night ; the 

 most peaceful I had spent for some time, for there were no 

 mosquitoes under the bright stars. 



On May 27 we had reached a point eight miles up the 

 river from the Lake, and where the Suwe leaves the main 

 stream on the right bank. Here I left the boats and 

 walked down the dried bed of the channel about half a 

 mile to Jimtilo, a village populated chiefly by Benisett 

 Arabs. But there are also some Kotokos and a settlement 

 of Kuri Budumas who live apart. The huts of the village 

 are all of the Arab type, large domes of reeds similar to those 

 of the Shuas, but the Kuri build gipsy -like shelters for their 

 children to sleep in. There is a weekly market at which are 

 sold large quantities of dried fish brought from the Kuri 

 Bagas. These are connected with the Lake by narrow 

 waterways which are cut through the belts of tall maria, and 

 which would be almost impossible to discover without pre- 

 vious knowledge of their existence. To these Bagas the 

 Budumas bring fish a three days' journey from their islands. 

 The Kuri differ in type from other Budumas in several 

 respects. They have long noses and their foreheads, though 

 high, are receding and they have not the thick Ups or the high- 

 pitched voices of the true Budumas. In the latter the treble 

 voice is so remarkable that, taking it in conjunction with 



