258 THE REDISCOVERED COUNTRY 



short distance away. The way then rises to a square 

 stone fort of some size near which stands the District 

 Commissioner's building, long, low, and white, with 

 surrounding veranda. The other side the fort are a 

 dozen Indian dukkas and, in an open space, a roofed 

 shed for the native market. The second avenue of 

 sickly trees runs from the fort down the length of the 

 peninsula. A few scattered native huts, and several 

 more compact villages, make up the rest of Shirati. A 

 fresh breeze generally sweeps across the peninsula, 

 which keeps it reasonably free of mosquitoes and fever. 

 The sleeping sickness is bad only a few miles away; and 

 Shirati is soon to be abandoned. 



We called on the District Commissioner and found 

 him a very pleasant, short, blond, and pink little man, 

 who spoke a little English. We had the wearisome 

 giraffe shauri to go over again. 



Then we went down to the landing and tackled the 

 Customs. That took the rest of the day, for never 

 before in the history of Shirati had sportsmen gone out 

 from there. The babu had no precedents, no book, no 

 nothing to go by; and such a situation is very tough on 

 the babu. We made a good many of our own prece- 

 dents on the spot, and got off fairly well. 



Very hot and sticky, and a lot more of our men came 

 down with fever. 



There is a species of eagle very numerous here and 

 well named Vocifer. He is the joUiest creature im- 



