68 THE REDISCOVERED COUNTRY 



men at the homa near the village, the rest with us. 

 Consequently we are travelling with only bare necessi- 

 ties. 



Our old N 'gouramani was promptly on hand, so we 

 were off at sunrise. He led us by a rocky trail down 

 a series of steps and over a 600-foot escarpment back 

 to the river level. On the way flushed hundreds grouse. 

 The cliffs were occupied by hordes of baboons that 

 came out and barked at us. 



We are now so used to heat that our morning tem- 

 perature of sixty degrees seems chilly! Saw some 

 fresh tracks of greater kudu; and in a tree a huge 

 structure five feet high by three broad, pear-shaped, 

 with a wide hole at the top. I thought it was some sort 

 of a hunter 's blind, but Memba Sasa says it is the nest 

 of the crested ibis! 



Camped among thin thorn trees. Stony underfoot, 

 and brown, but alongside is a crystal clear stream flow- 

 ing over rocks. In the afternoon our old guide led us 

 an hour through the thorn to the border of a long wet 

 marsh surrounded by higher ground. He sneaked 

 along the edge of this looking for buffalo. FinaUy 

 he had us lie down in a thicket until near dusk. The 

 idea was to wait untfl the buffalo came out in the 

 marsh to feed, but there would have to be a thou- 

 sand thousand of them or else mighty good luck to bring 

 them out at exactly our spot ! 



On his way across a little wet arm he stooped over, 



