PLATEAU OF THE PAGANS 393 



We had found a few of the Wasara giants, members 

 of a tribe where every man towers nearly seven feet 

 in height. My original plan was to visit their villages 

 along the Sara River, but lack of time prevented; so 

 I contented myself by gathering at one point those 

 who were scattered among the other natives around the 

 fort. They proved to be an interesting people, prac- 

 ticing devil worship similar to the tribes adjacent to the 

 Sara Kyabe and scarring their faces in a [like fashion. 



During our hundred-mile trek from Fort Archam- 

 bault to Miltou, the trucks had barely moved mile 

 after weary mile through deep sand. We had become 

 lost in bhnd ends to the paths, and had followed the 

 river, hoping to arrive at some landmark, only to get 

 bogged down in a reeking fever swamp where the 

 mosquitoes nearly ate us ahve. 



One night, while attempting to reach a village, we 

 repeatedly ran into deep mudholes. After one par- 

 ticularly bad stretch of marsh, we had attained hard 

 ground and thought that all would be fair saihng for 

 a while, but had only gone a few hundred yards when 

 both trucks became mired good and fast. Worn out 

 by hours of continuous toil, we sought rest by camp- 

 ing on the spot. Immediately black clouds of mos- 

 quitoes swarmed in to greet us, and during the night 

 their singing outside the net kept me awake. The 

 buzzing of their bilhons of wings made a sound 

 resembhng a distant waterfall. While hstening to 

 this fearful refrain, I heard hons roar and hyenas 

 howl, and wondered what they would look hke run- 

 ning around in httle cages made of netting, I felt 

 sorry for the Hons — and sympathy for the mosqui- 

 toes that bit the hyenas I 



