CHAPTER IX 



VAKIOUS MATTEES, INCLUDING PETS AND INSECTS 



Locusts and locust- birds — bees — Duke of Connaught's visit — a 

 wild Masai war dance — more plague — my duiker — the 

 mason hornet. 



One afternoon a most interesting sight occurred, a 

 large black cloud appeared in the sky, coming up 

 quickly in our direction. When overhead we found 

 it to be composed of millions of locusts, and the 

 air became thick with them. In the lines the aska- 

 ris ran about knocking them down to eat, a delight- 

 ful chance of getting a free meal ; Tommy our 

 British Central African boy was very excited at the 

 thought of filling his already fat little stomach. Even 

 the cats and dogs rushed about and caught them, eat- 

 ing them as well, which astonished us. Winkie, one 

 of our visitors, a huge Persian cat, and our own cat 

 Susie Weenie, with Matt, an Irish terrier, braved 

 the rain to give chase ; the others contented them- 

 selves with catching them as they fell on to the 

 verandah. We found (or rather the cats found) in 

 all our rooms a number of locusts which had 

 blindly flown into the bungalow through the win- 



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