EXPLORATION OF THE BAMINGI 189 



it was extracted, they made short work of the black- 

 looking honey, which disappeared down their throats, 

 grubs and all. 



This bird has a remarkably tough skin, which it is almost 

 impossible to tear, and when dry, becomes as stiff as 

 parchment. Doubtless a provision of Nature that gives it 

 immunity, when rifling a nest, from the stings of the bees. 



During our days on the Bamingi, the honey-guide became 

 an attendant familiar, often following the boats by the banks 

 and sometimes enticing our " boys " to go in search of the 

 honey, which they invariably found. 



The night was clear and the stars bright, so we stayed 

 up late taking observations for latitude, but the work was 

 made difficult by the heavy dew that gathered in beads 

 upon the lens. 



At times the cries of lion, leopard and hyena awoke the 

 stillness that surrounded our little camp upon the cliff. 



The next day very heavy rains caused us to stop at one 

 o'clock. Luckily we hit upon a beautiful sand-bank with a 

 " hippo " pool near by, so the prospect of getting meat 

 made up for wet clothes and general discomfort. 



It was a romantic spot that we had chosen for our 

 tents, for the sand-bank lay opposite a deep bend of the river. 

 Across the broad pool rose a steep cliff of red earth that 

 sloped gently down to lose itself beyond in the folds of a little 

 grove where at night the hippos came to graze. All among 

 the gnarled stems of the trees, the grass had been cropped to 

 such an even, velvet closeness that the spaces underneath 

 the twisty boughs seemed like forest lawns pressed in elfin 

 dances. The smooth, deep-trodden paths through the grov§ 



