84 
SAVAGE SUDAN 
imagined that a lion was menacing them ; but it soon 
became obvious that sheer exuberance of spirit formed 
the motive cause. For while we watched, little bouts 
of sham-fights began between younger bulls, while others 
coquetted with the females. Half an hour later the 
whole herd had relapsed into quiescence, enjoying a 
noontide siesta, mostly afoot though several lay down. 
Although gregarious — some herds numbering one 
hundred and upwards—tiang are not social and rarely 
mix much with other species. Occasionally one sees 
an odd tdtel among the mobs of white-eared cob and, 
more rarely, with roan. With waterbuck, though the 
two species often pasture alongside, the tiang never 
associate. This trait was markedly conspicuous on the 
Zeraf River, where every afternoon we watched huge 
aggregations of both these antelopes leisurely filing down 
towards the water — charming pageants in wild-life. 
However closely their companies might approach each 
other, yet never did the herds intermingle. The water- 
buck often came on boldly to drink in broad daylight; 
the tiang never. There were giraffe and roan there also, 
but these never came near the river at all. 
This was in February, 1914, when, by reason of a 
Nuer outbreak further up the river, all rifle-shooting on 
the Bahr-el-Zeraf was closed. We had been granted a 
special permit to collect birds only (for the British 
Museum), and were therefore free to revel in these 
delightful scenes undisturbed by ulterior motives or 
designs. 
Tiang are watchful animals and, on the dead-level 
grass-prairies, distinctly difficult to stalk, especially when 
a sentry stands posted on a io-foot ant-hill. It is curious, 
however, how much animal-instinct varies. I remember 
one day when, after shooting two tetel —each after a 
laborious crawl—another herd allowed me to w r alk openly 
past them within 200 yards (nearer, in fact, than either of 
my hard-earned shots). Twice, a restless spirit or two 
