viii AN EVENTFUL XMAS DAY 87 



straight towards it for a considerable time, so I 

 asked them how they were able to find their way 

 in the dark, and they immediately pointed to the 

 North Star as their guide. 



Save a stumble here and there into a hole, 

 nothing of any moment occurred until after dawn. 

 Then, as the light grew clearer, our interest was 

 aroused by the sight of various kinds of game on 

 each side of our path. A herd of wildebeeste trooped 

 off to our right, while on the other hand, to our left, 

 an inquisitive troop of zebra galloped towards us, 

 evidently very much interested in fjnding out what 

 kind of new animal we were. I always noticed that 

 Aladdin had a very great attraction for them, and 

 whenever I rode him I found that I could approach 

 quite close to them, as their curiosity seemed to over- 

 come their fears. 



A little further on we passed a clump of acacia 

 trees, many of them festooned with the graceful 

 hanging nests of the weaver bird. The small 

 sparrow-like occupants arose from them in clouds as 

 we approached. I examined several of the nests, 

 which each contained three eggs of a beautiful tur- 

 quoise blue. I noticed that the entrance, curiously 

 enough, was at the bottom of the nest, but the 

 clever parents had made such a cunning little 

 hollow just inside the doorway that there was 

 small danger of the young birds falling out, until 



