THE BALARSE VALLEY 



269 



Stream, as, it being a feast-day, they said they could not 

 cross the river. 



Next day we continued our journey up the valley of 

 the Balarse. I shot the first duiker I had seen since I 

 left the Abyssinian plateau, for, unlike oribi, these 

 antelopes are never found in the low, hot country. In 

 a little green valley, far off the track, Ali spotted three 



Duiker Skulls. 



'J'urkogogo. 



animals, which he said were tora, but when we got there, 

 to our disgust they proved to be reedbuck. We crossed 

 the Balarse and passed the deserted village of Emalar, 

 at one time inhabited by Belat Wurgie's people, who 

 had been compelled to move further south owing to 

 the heavy toll exacted by the robbers. I had been 

 told that greater kudu were to be found in these hills, 

 and I was most anxious to bag a specimen, not having 

 had a chance this trip. Opposite our camp was a large, 

 flat-topped hill known as Kucharmerer, the slopes of 

 which looked most likely ground ; but the people seemed 



