WILD MEN AND WILD BEASTS 
211 
entirely enclosing" the game. We did not hear the results 
of this operation; but that evening, on the opposite 
bank, met a crowd of Nuers, all blood-covered, and 
carrying eight reedbuck does and one small cob with 
16-inch horn, all intercepted on their own bank. This 
head, with fine courtesy, the Nuer chief insisted on 
presenting to me and, on my respectfully declining the 
trophy, laid the horns at my feet, and with a stately 
gesture of farewell, turned to rejoin his troop.” 
An unfortunate incident befell that evening. Before 
dusk we had baited and set our two large steel-traps 
intending to catch a hyena whose spoor in the sand 
betrayed a regular nocturnal prowl by the riverside. Our 
men had left the traps unguarded too early, with the 
result that, before dark, a vulture and a Nuer dog were 
caught. Reasonably the Nuers might have felt aggrieved ; 
instead, they took the mishap quite good-naturedly and 
in excellent part, recognising that it had been uninten¬ 
tional. The dog’s view was not ascertained. 
From these Nuers we learnt that most of the game 
is killed by the spear; dogs are only effective after an 
animal has been wounded—or with fawns ! The Nuers 
exhibit great intelligence in availing themselves of 
every advantage in the lie of the land, utilising each 
promontory or isolated neck where game can best be 
cut out. The buffalo they never attack; they fear his 
revenge, and state that his hide is too thick for their 
spears to penetrate. Even the Baggara elephant-hunters 
in Kordofan, who tackle that mighty pachyderm with * 
their shovel-headed spears, respect the Gamoos. Only 
three survived, it is recorded, out of six who first essayed 
such a fight. 
“February 20.—Met to-day in the heart of the 
forest, a gang of fifty Nuers with a pack of dogs; they 
carried eight reedbuck and cob does, with a lot of 
unrecognisable fawns, and after greetings vanished like 
wild game in the woods.” See photo by Captain Lynes. 
