142 AN EXCURSION TO LUR. 



were scattered, surrounded by banana groves and numerous 

 plantations of sesame and sweet potatoes. The whole country 

 has a very homely look, and this impression is enhanced by 

 the obliging and kindly manners of the inhabitants. As 

 Wadelai's village is situated at some distance from here, we 

 had to wait until messengers had been sent to him. The river, 

 dotted over by many reed islands, is very broad. On the east 

 bank a herd of thirty or forty elephants was peacefully grazing, 

 and here there was a broad fringe of rushes. Close by the 

 bank the depth of the water is 1 1-|- feet; a little farther, 

 about 48 feet. Sounding showed that the bottom of the river 

 was composed of thick grey clay, containing large quantities 

 of vegetable detritus and a great number of small snails ; we 

 collected specimens of the latter. 



In the meantime a brisk traffic had sprung up on the bank, 

 wood for the steamer, sweet potatoes, gourds, bananas, and 

 fowls being exchanged for glass beads. We visited the little 

 villages without hindrance. They consist of compounds con- 

 taining ten or twelve small dome-shaped huts with porched 

 entrances, which latter are often seen in Unyoro. Very 

 clean receptacles for corn, covered and calked with red clay, 

 and with a raised handle on either side, stand on wooden 

 frames between the huts. Several miniature huts are dedicated 

 to the spirits, but stand empty. In the centre of the village 

 a small roof raised on posts marks a grave where the blood of a 

 goat is occasionally offered to the dead. Frames for drying- 

 sesame were heavily laden with bundles of it. The country is 

 adorned by many high trees, which shelter a large number of 

 birds ; among them I noticed the goshawk (Astitr polyzonus), 

 ftpizaetus occipitalis, another yellowish brown hawk, sunbirds 

 (Nectarinia pulchella), the common widow- bird, still in full 

 feather, many weaver-birds, and a species of pipit. A mes- 

 senger from the chief came late in the evening with a large 

 tusk of ivory as a present. He was commissioned to inquire 

 whether my intentions were good or bad, and having been 

 sufficiently enlightened on this point, he returned with presents 

 both for the chief and for himself. 



The mornings at this season of the year are very misty. It 

 was only to-day (November 17) that I was able to take a sight 



