332 THE ODYSSEY OF AN ANIMAL COLLECTOR 
one hundred and eighty miles inland. I was given permission to 
stay in the P.W.D. rest-house at Ayang, which was a simple, two- 
roomed thatched affair with, of course, no furnishings. There are 
a number of such places in the interior, a few belonging to the 
P.W.D., but most of them to the Government. The visitor is ex- 
pected to bring his own crockery, provisions, bed, etc., and cook 
and houseboy, who also have a certain amount of kit, so that the 
necessity for traveling by lorry is obvious. We were late in starting 
from Victoria and so were obliged to spend the night at a rest- 
house about ninety miles inland and thirty miles beyond Kumba, 
the first place of any importance up country and one that supports 
a District Commissioner. 
The following day we were proceeding merrily through the 
Cameroons Forest, with an occasional Great Blue Touraco flying 
across our path, when a car coming from the opposite direction 
drew up and signalled to us to stop. A man sprang out and in 
explosive tones abused first the driver and then me for being on 
the road. He asked if we had been given permission to travel, and 
if so by whom. Had I known what he was driving at, communica- 
tion would have been easier, but as it was he probably thought I 
was exceedingly dense. My simpleness was too much for him, for 
with a loud snort, and still in a violent rage, he jumped into his 
car and drove on. This was the first white man I had met in the 
interior, so I began to wonder what was in store. 
After this human avalanche had slid out of sight my driver ex- 
plained that on this particular stretch of road vehicles were per- 
mitted to travel in each direction only on alternate days, and we 
were going the wrong way. No one had even hinted at this to me, 
not even the P.W.D., and the reason was not apparent, consider- 
ing the wide roads, until I had met a few hare-brained native 
drivers. Anyway, I regret that this was my only meeting with the 
person in question, for I believe his direct manner was responsible 
for accomplishing things at a speed unknown before in the 
Colonial Service. | 
My stay at Ayang was rather brief as the natives were quite 
unhelpful and bird-life not particularly interesting, though I soon 
got together a collection of the more desirable birds such as 
Snowy-headed Robin-chats, Forest Robins, Blue-billed Seed- 
