A PAEADISE OF ELEPHANTS. 221 



mountains, except that here the acacias (Acacia campylacantlia) 

 form veritable woods, with thickets of aloes growing between 

 the trees. A Jebel Korola lies some three miles to the left 

 of the road ; it is occupied by people from the original Jebel 

 Korola, which lies to the northward. Immediately past Khor 

 Eodon is an extensive plain covered with Cyperacese, and 

 clumps of trees here and there ; as the sedges indicate, it 

 may be entirely flooded, and hardly passable in the rainy 

 season, but at this time it was dry. Kigelias and euphor- 

 bias grow on the elevated spots, while hundreds of elephants 

 march about in troops, not exactly improving the road, which 

 is so trodden down by them that one has the greatest difficulty 

 in steering one's course unharmed between the holes and 

 ditches. This paradise of elephants is named by the Liria 

 people Kadenokoka ; the Latuka people call it Kittagong. 

 Swarms of little butterflies literally covering the ground at 

 all the damp places look exceedingly pretty, and resemble 

 white and red blossoms sprung from the black swampy soil. 

 Equally pleasing is the sight of yellow-backed widow-birds 

 (Penthetria macroura), that clamber about the high grass in 

 noisy companies. It takes about an hour to march through 

 this swamp ; at its extremity Khor Kafali runs northwards 

 to the Ber district, where it joins the Khor Gineti, there 

 called Choi or Chon. 



Very open acacia woods, interrupted by many clear patches 

 of meadow land, lie beyond this khor. The tracks of nume- 

 rous visitors are visible upon the edges of the rain-pools, 

 spoors of buffaloes and giraffes being quite unmistakable. In 

 the deep bed of Khor Lodo there were only a few little pools 

 of muddy, bad-smelling water, and large masses of dark, fer- 

 ruginous, slag-like clay were visible. This Ichor also flows 

 northwards, but before reaching the Ber country empties itself 

 iuto the Khor Kafali. On all the trees large bats (Xanihor- 

 pia) were hanging, which flew wildly about on our approach. 

 A rarer guest, the Stenostira plumhea of the western countries, 

 appeared here for the first time. Nearly three hours' jour- 

 ney through open acacia forest, abounding in large game of 

 all sorts, brought us to a pool called Sogodi, which appears to 

 be a rendezvous for hunters, for the ground is strewn all over 



