92 CHIEFS & CITIES OF CENTRAL AFRICA 



form or time as we understand it ; but grace -notes 

 and appoggiaturas play a large part in their music, 

 and their all too short airs are often repeated. 



The surface of the soil is sandy, but fairly good 

 crops are raised, and the trees, though few, sometimes 

 grow to be big. The lake is girt in by a tangle of 

 rushes, and here vast herds of hippo make their 

 home. It was owing to them that we stayed two 

 days at Kerra. We heard them in close vicinity 

 to the camp as we dined, and were a little nervous 

 lest they might lumber into our tents at night. We 

 therefore strolled out afterwards to see whether by 

 any unlucky chance we had pitched camp across one 

 of their trails. Very soon we were in the midst of 

 grunts, and first one, then another, massive form 

 loomed close in the darkness. We were down wind 

 and full of ambition to get closer still, so we sank 

 down against the blackness of a tree. Suddenly Mr 

 Talbot gave a cry, and sprang to his feet. He had 

 been bitten by a snake. We hurried back to camp, 

 and were there in two minutes ; but by the time he 

 had got his boot off, the leg, where he had been 

 bitten, was hard and swollen. Two red dots showed 

 where the fangs had entered. He cut them twice 

 with his knife, but no blood flowed. We rubbed in 

 carbolic acid, applied ligatures, and put hot - water 

 bottles to his feet. Mrs Talbot poured black coffee 

 and two-thirds of a bottle of whisky down his throat, 

 but nevertheless his pulse weakened. He almost lost 

 consciousness, and as a last measure we prepared to 

 inject strychnine. Thus an hour passed. Then his 

 pulse gradually became stronger and steadier, and 

 we got him to bed. In the course of the night our 



