64 Mr. E. Lort Phillips on Birds 



conducted into cisterns, whence the water finds its way by 

 gravitation to Berbera through iron pipes laid down by the 

 Egyptians during their occupation of the country. Remains 

 of ancient stone culverts also exist belonging to a far earlier 

 period. Around the cisterns trees have been planted and 

 gardens laid out_, the whole being enclosed within a strong 

 zareeba, and from here Aveekly consignments of fresh vege- 

 tables are sent to Aden for the use of the troops. The 

 garden is worked by an old ex-Egyptian soldier^ Farragh by 

 name, a native of the White Nile, assisted by about a dozen 

 Berbera jail-birds who are " doing their bit of time/"* and a 

 very easy "bit'^ too from all appearances; indeed, but for 

 the fact of their having chains on their legs, one would 

 hardly take them for convicts. At night they sleep in a 

 ruined fort on a hill above the gardens built by the Egyptians 

 as protection to the place. 



Here we spent two very pleasant days collecting, and 

 during the midday heat we made ourselves very comfortable 

 with table, chairs, and books, under a spreading tamarind- 

 tree which cast a shadow, " as that of a great rock,'^ on the 

 thirsty ground beneath. Above our heads the little Yellow 

 Weaver-birds were very busy with their hanging ball-shaped 

 nests, and it was delightful to watch them working with long 

 streamers of grass or strips of palm -leaf. Grasping the 

 half-completed structure firmly with their claws, they would 

 poke one end of the material through the side, then they 

 would run inside themselves and pull it through and poke the 

 end out again and then come out and pull it, repeating the 

 operation all round. Butterflies (Arabic "Birds of Paradise^') 

 and beetles were fairly plentiful, and it was most amusing to 

 watch old Farragh^s almost contemptuous astonishment with 

 which he viewed the delight of the ladies at every new speci- 

 men. " What will the mem-sahibs do with these things ? " 

 he asked ; " they are useless even for food ! ! " ; but never- 

 theless he managed to catch a few himself, and brought them 

 fluttering with one wing grasped firmly between a horny 

 thumb and forefinger. From Dobar we marched to Bihen, 

 passing the night at a waterless spot called Boosti. We started 



