200 
SAVAGE SUDAN 
in red ribbons, festoons all the neighbouring- trees—or, 
in default of trees, long withy-fences erected for the 
purpose. Within two hours little is left on the skeleton. 
Opposite, on the south bank, squat Nuers, watching 
with envious eyes. They are at enmity with the Shilluks 
but, having no canoes, cannot cross ; or else there would 
ensue a fight. 
We reserved only the tongues for ourselves—all kinds 
of tongues, by the way, are excellent, nor do they vary 
inter se in their well-known generic flavour; and our 
crew always saw to keeping for themselves a lion’s share 
of meat for biltong. 
In this region we observed what was to me a new and 
surprising habit of the hippo ; though perhaps it would 
be more accurate to say that in these sequestered swamps 
certain hippopotami still retain an ancient life-habit that 
in the dim past—ere man appeared on the scene—may 
have been their normal custom. Nowadays, in all 
frequented regions, hippos habitually spend the entire 
day in the water, only emerging to feed ashore after 
darkness lends a measure of security, and returning 
before dawn. Here, however, in regions remote, where 
scarce a human foot intrudes—(since swamps and sudd 
repel even the savage)—many hippos have developed the 
habit—if they had ever lost it—of remaining ashore 
throughout the entire day. The first indications of 
the fact occurred to Lynes who, penetrating, with other 
objects, the inmost recesses of swamp and bog, encountered 
somnolent monsters in unwonted and wholly unexpected 
haunts. Nothing, however, was revealed to view. There 
was a resounding crash amidst viewless papyrus, possibly 
a momentary glimpse of grey hide might be vouchsafed 
—that was all. L. naturally concluded that the unseen 
beasts were buffalo; and since buffalo fall within my 
department, I promptly followed up the clue. The 
results, as recorded in diary, read as follows >—Landed 
at three o’clock, in breathless, blistering heat. This 
