MISTS. 39 



odd shape exquisitely tinted ; but sometimes it 

 hangs about the earth for some hours, and 

 I have even known it to drift away and 

 then be all slowly drifted back again. The 

 natives declare it is ai mushla (no good), 

 and very unhealthy to be out in ; and when 

 they are obliged to defy it, huddle themselves 

 up in their blankets and look most miserable 

 objects. 



I found a quantity of millet growing at 

 the back of the cottage when I arrived, and 

 although I was often advised to cut it down, 

 as it would harbour mosquitoes, I let it remain, 

 for twice a day the birds used to come and 

 feed on it ; and many a half-hour have I spent 

 watching their pretty ways, much amused by 

 the fights and chatterings, and billing and coo- 

 ing, going on during the meal, they not mind- 

 ing my presence in the least. Sometimes five 

 or six little creatures would cling on one head 

 of millet, their united weight hardly causing it 

 to sway about. 



The little "bigodns" (Crithagra ictera), in 



