264 
SAVAGE SUDAN 
them and difficulties they despised. For all that, the result 
of our researches hardly induced in my mind any very 
extravagant ideas as to great store of ornithological 
treasure hidden away in the Sudd. No doubt in so 
vast an unexplored area there will some day prove to 
exist unknown forms of life ; but the only known genera 
to which these dismal swamps appear possibly congenial 
would be such as crakes and rails, jacanas, bitterns, 
and possibly some marsh-warblers. This is not the place 
to record categorically our collections—they will be found 
enshrined in the Ibis; but a few lines on our modus 
operandi may convey some idea of the Sudd and its 
denizens. 
Starting in the pinnace by break of day, we rowed 
silently along some green wall of papyrus, creeping into 
each creek, each recess or cul-de-sac of the swamp. One 
gun stood upright in the bows. The best “hunting- 
grounds ” we found to be where the taller growth gave 
place to humble flags with a tangle of sedge and bog- 
plants. The presence of such a spot ahead being 
signalled by the forward gun, oars were plied yet more 
noiselessly, and presently the boat swung onwards under 
helm only. The chief “game” on which for the moment 
our hearts were set, comprised three sorts of marsh- 
warbler, all of which—alike in song and general appear¬ 
ance—were new to us, nor did they correspond with any 
described species. So intensely secretive were these 
mites that a brief bar of song or a fugitive glimpse 
was all they ever vouchsafed ere vanishing into the 
depths of cane, sedge, and swamp - grasses. Even 
that wild excitement might only occur about thrice in 
a long morning ; while to await a reappearance of the 
vanished Dulcinea (even for a solid hour) always proved 
fruitless. 
As the stem of the pinnace silently stole round an 
angle ahead, disclosing some favourite lurking-place, the 
flick of a tiny wing amidst viewless vegetation might 
