Chap. 1Y. PASSAGE OF THE IIILLS TO OLEXDA. 85 



to sliift my hut to a higher position, and the point 

 of land on which I was encampe,!, with its beach 

 of white sand, became an island. By a series of 

 observations I found the river-level at Obindji to be 

 fifty -four feet above the sea-level. I made many 

 additions to my collections during my stay here. 

 Insects were not numerous, but some of the lepidop- 

 tera, attracted to the moist sand at the edge of the 

 water, and floating about the flowering bushes on 

 the skirts of the forest, were very beautiful. Some 

 of the butterflies i^Romaleosoma) were magnificent, 

 with their green and black wings ornamented be- 

 neath with patches of crimson and ^'ellow. These 

 flew very swiftly, and were difficult to capture. 

 Birds were scarce. I hunted in vain for the Musci- 

 peta Duchaillui, of which I had only shot one speci- 

 men in my former journey. 



Tlie porters at length returned, and the remaining 

 loads having been cleared off, Quengueza and I 

 departed from Obindji on the 17th November. 

 Paddling up the Ofoubou, we saw a very young cro- 

 codile sunning itself on a log. One of our boys im- 

 mediately swam off to seize it, but, just as he was 

 about to grasp it by the neck, the reptile slid off and 

 disappeared. It took us three hours and a half to 

 reach the landing-place, Djali Coudie. Here we 

 slept, and commenced our march the next morning 

 (18th) at day-break. At a quarter-past eight we 

 reached a steep hill, Nomba Kigoubou (369 feet), at 

 the summit of which we stopped for breakfast. Tlien, 

 resuming our march, we arrived at four p.m. at the 

 base of a hill, called Ecourou, where we stopped for 



