70 Mr. E. Lort Phillips on Birds 



Between Waclaba and Bihen we had a most exciting 

 experience. We were now about to leave the foot-hills 

 and strike out over the " red-hot " plain, so we decided 

 to leave the camp before sunrise, and get over a good bit 

 of ground before the great heat of the day, trusting to find 

 some shady spot on our road, where we could rest till 

 the evening. We passed several suitable places, but decided 

 that they were not far enoiigh on our way to warrant 

 our stopping ; however, the further we advanced the smaller 

 we found the trees, which were decidedly dwindling as 

 the distance from the hills increased. Our road lay along 

 a glaring white water-course, and we were beginning to 

 despair of finding a convenient place, when, far ahead, we 

 spied a pillar of green apparently rising out of the white sand 

 of the river^s bed. We joyfully pressed forward and found, 

 on a low flat island, two huge mimosa-trees completely 

 covered with creepers, the rope-like stems of which hung 

 down in festoons, nearly to the ground. We congratulated 

 ourselves most heartily on this lucky find, and told the "boys" 

 to get breakfast ready as soon as possible, as we were more 

 than ready for it ourselves. On these occasions a camel 

 always accompanied us, having on its back two large Scotch 

 game-panniers, which not only held our food and drink for the 

 day, but also books, papers, &c., as well as collecting-boxes, 

 while on the top were tied folding chairs and table, and also 

 ground-sheets ; so we were able to make ourselves thoroughly 

 comfortable. Breakfast over, we composed ourselves for a 

 well-earned siesta. We had been asleep for about an hour, 

 when Hersi came and touched me, saying, " Sahib, plenty 

 lain comin' ; can^tyou hear him shoutin' upstairs ? " At the 

 same moment I heard the roll of the thunder among the 

 tops of the upper Goolis, accompanied by the peculiar 

 hissing noise of a tropical downpour. I woke the others, 

 and we hastily converted the ground-sheet into a tent, using 

 the chairs and table as a wall on the weather-side. We 

 had barely completed our arrangements before the storm was 

 upon us. In our anxiety to keep our things dry, the possi- 

 bility of lightning seems to have escaped us, and it was only 



