INTRODUCTORY 
5 
cream of the whole—more delicious than all the twenty 
forbye, not only in physical comfort but in opportunity 
for observation of wild-life, great or small. Even from 
the regular mail-steamers of the Sudan Government on 
White Nile many a striking spectacle may almost daily 
be witnessed. Travellers of the globe-trotter type doubt 
this. Why? Because they never turn out before “break¬ 
fast at nine” . . . and, after that, play whisky-poker. 
Big-Game.— The Sudan must rank as one of the 
more important of Afric’s varied hunting-fields. Its 
game-list is quite long and intrinsically interesting. 
Probably no other area to-day holds more elephants, 
nor heavier ivory ; but—more important—the Sudan can 
claim a virtual monopoly in no less than eight distinct 
species of game-animals, including two of the biggest 
beasts yet extant here on earth. These two are the 
Giant Eland and the White Rhinoceros, both still fairly 
numerous though restricted within dangerously narrow 
limits in the Bahr-el-Ghazal and Lado Enclave . 1 Besides 
these two in the extreme south, six other species are 
practically endemic to Sudan. These six include (on the 
alluvial plains) the Tiang and White-eared Cob; on the 
marshes, the rare Saddle-backed Lechwi {Onotragus 
megaceros, Heller); while on the Saharan Deserts of 
Northern Sudan roam three strangely specialised desert- 
forms, to wit—the sabre-horned Oryx leucoryx, the 
Addra gazelle, and the Addax, most reclusive of all. 
In claiming these eight animals exclusively for Sudan, 
I am of course aware that wide-ranging nomads of their 
type disregard purely political boundaries—such as often 
serve in Africa, merely, for example, degrees of latitude 
or longitude, the Equator, and similar intangible con¬ 
ventions. Desert creatures wander afar beyond such 
precise geographical limitations; but the point is that 
the Sudan is the place to get these prizes. 
1 The white rhinoceros has since been placed on the Protected List— 
that is, none may now be shot. One giant eland is allowed. 
