122 IN THE LAND OF THE BORA. 



animals one sees on some of the islands, such as 

 Morter. They sell for about four pounds apiece. 

 It is another reminder that one is on the threshold 

 of the East, that the natives do their thrashing 

 here by driving half a dozen ponies in a circle 

 over the corn. During our stay they were doing 

 this with the sorgwm. This is a plant which grows 

 in the marsh. It has a small brown grain like 

 linseed, and is used for live-stock, and also mixed 

 for coarse bread. Ponies and cattle alike swim 

 like ducks, and their owners habitually send them 

 across any streams they may come on in going to 

 or returning from pasture in this way. I have 

 seen quite small calves swim the little Narenta. 

 Here I noticed, for the first time in my life, swim- 

 ming cattle resting their heads on the buttocks of 

 the beast next before them. This goes far to 

 prove half Herodotus' story, that the red deer in 

 his day used to swim across from the mainland to 

 Cyprus, each resting his head in turn on the 

 quarters of the one in front. If cattle do it, stags, 

 whose head is so much heavier, probably do 

 so too. 



In spite of the fact that the whole of the 

 marsh is divided every fifty yards or so by wide 

 ditches of deep mud, the natives tow their larger 

 boats from Fort Opus as far as the broads I have 

 referred to above. It is of course hard work, and 

 very dirty to boot, as may be realized from the 



