164 FROM THE NIGER TO THE NILE 



from the river into the bush where they live in small communi- 

 ties scattering their huts among their crops as a protection 

 against surprise. But even so, they do not always manage 

 to escape from their persecutors, for while we were at Buso, 

 we heard that a party of Baghirmi with sixty slaves had 

 crossed the river from the Sara country. 



The night before we arrived at Miltu, which is some 

 eighty miles above Buso, we camped on a large sand-bank. 

 Close by, there was a " school " of a dozen hippos, but we 

 left them in peace and went off to explore the bush which 

 lay behind the camp. Gosling had not gone more than 500 

 yards when he walked on to a troop of eight lions which were 

 lying down in some dry grass. They got up at about eighty 

 yards and made off at a slow canter, grunting like pigs. 

 He shot at one as it paused a moment in the long grass with 

 its back to him, and not knowing that he had dropped it, 

 walked right past it. After a fruitless search of half an hour 

 for blood tracks, he returned to where the animal was last 

 seen and found it lying dead near by. It proved to be a male 

 in fine condition, but not quite full grown, for indistinct 

 yellow spots showed on the belly and legs. With the lion's 

 skin to dry, it was necessary to stay at this camp over the 

 next day, which fortunately turned out bright and sunny. 



At Miltu, our next stopping-place, there is a small German 

 post of thirteen men in charge of a sergeant, whose duty is to 

 prevent slave-raiding. For this protection no tax is levied 

 on the Saras. 



The river here is divided into two channels by a large 

 island in the centre. On the left, the Miltu side, there are 

 fine groves of large-leaved trees and tall acacias which at this 



