A SHULI VILLAGE. 245 



shaped corn granaries, huts for young girls, numerous votive 

 huts, adorned with Achatina shells and horns of dwarf antelopes, 

 all exist here, while now and then, in the background, can be 

 seen a smithy, and the erections, so common among the Shuli, 

 where men and women hold their separate meetings and gather 

 together for conversation, are not wanting. There is usually 

 one of these men's meeting-places on a terrace at the entrance 

 of a village. Stands for hunting-trophies, consisting of horns, 

 skulls, and jaws of slain animals, are to be seen, as also trophies 

 of every variety of antelope that exists in the country, and of 

 buffaloes, giraffes, zebras, and other animals of the cat tribe. 

 There are "said to be no lions here. Leopards live among the 

 crags and rocks ; wild cats and hyaenas are plentiful, the latter, 

 being notorious sheep-stealers. The inhabitants are Shuli, 

 and therefore good hunters, but they cannot compare with the 

 Latiika. Their arms — two spears only — their frisure, and 

 their ornaments are identical with those of their southern kin. 

 The women, too, resemble them in being almost entirely with- 

 out clothing. 



A boiling-point observation gave 3700 feet for the height 

 of Agaru, and the necessary corrections should make it still 

 higher. It is evident, therefore, why Agaru has always been 

 considered a kind of sanatorium on account of its climate, a 

 reputation which it well deserves. 



Like Latiika, Agaru should yield many treasures to the 

 collector. I found a weaver-bird, resembling the Hypliantomis 

 Spekei, but differing from it in its white under jaw and throat ; 

 it is probably a new species. For the first time I met with 

 the superb Pholidauges leacogaster, which appeared to be passing 

 in small noisy flocks to the north-west. The beef-eaters (Bu- 

 pliaga erythrorhyncha), which prove a sore pest to the cattle, 

 were particularly numerous and bold. Kingfishers (Halcyon 

 semiccerulect), the beautiful Ispidina picta, and bee-eaters 

 (Merops Bullockii and M. pusillus) sat on the bushes catching 

 insects. The hoopoe (Upupa epops) is also fairly common. 

 Fringillidae appear in legions at this season of the year, being 

 attracted by the ripening corn. While in Tarangole the place 

 of the house sparrow is taken by the Philagrus melanorhynchus, 

 it is here represented by the Passer Swainsoni, a bird of the 



