DOWN THE RIVER. 245 



glimpses of them. One morning we came upon 

 the fresh-killed carcass of a female lesser kudu 

 from which, evidently, we had driven the slayer. 



These few species practically completed the 

 game list. They were sufficient for our needs ; 

 and the lesser kudu was a prize much desired for 

 our collection. But by far the most interesting 

 to me were the smaller animals, the birds, and 

 the strange, innumerable insects. 



We saw no natives in the whole course of our 

 journey. 



The valley of the river harboured many 

 monkeys. They seemed to be of two species, blue 

 and brown, but were equally noisy and amusing. 

 They retired ahead of our advance with many 

 remarks, or slipped past us to the rear without any 

 comments whatever. When we made camp they 

 retired with indignant protests, and when we had 

 quite settled down they returned as near as they 

 dared. 



One very hot afternoon I lay on my canvas cot 

 in the open, staring straight upward into the 

 overarching greenery of the trees. This is a 

 very pleasant thing to do. The beautiful up- 

 spreading, outstretching of the tree branches and 

 twigs intrigue the eye ; the leaves make fascina- 

 ting, hypnotically waving patterns against a very 



