BUSH SHELTERS 



stream. It was covered with waja trees and a few 

 large acacias all growing close together. In the 

 middle I found two small bush shelters, where three 

 or four men had obviously been hiding. To say the 

 least, it was exceedingly curious ; what they were 

 doing there I cannot imagine, for no one would live 

 in such dismal surroundino^s unless he were forced 

 to do so. They may have been Borana trying to 

 escape from their Somali oppressors, the Abd Wak, 

 or perhaps fugitives of the latter tribe in hiding after 

 the disastrous defeat they had suffered at the hands 

 of the Mohammed Zubheir. Whoever they were, 

 the signs of human habitation in the midst of the 

 tangled confusion of that desolate swamp seemed 

 almost incredible, and struck a strange, even a 

 sinister note. 



At last I emerged once more into the open, having 

 followed the course of the river from end to end of 

 the swamp ; but, in addition, I had to fix the general 

 outline of the hills and their heights, and to ascertain 

 the lie of the land to the east of Melka Waja swamp. 

 While working I also had to shoot for the pot, and 

 take various astronomical observations, so I had no 

 time to spare. Grant's gazelle [G. granti brighti) 

 and Grevy's zebra were fairly numerous, but I saw 

 no more oryx or any other game until I reached 

 Arro Dima. 



When I broke camp at Melka Waja, I sent my 

 camels a long way outside the swamp in case there 

 should be any tsetse fly, and my mule went with 

 them. Meanwhile, I followed the course of the river 

 on foot, and a very trying and exhausting march it 

 proved. I took several photographs of the river, and 

 by climbing a thorn tree managed to get a view of 

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