276 FATIKO TO FAUVEKA. 



The march from here to Fatiko was very pleasant; a short 

 descent over very muddy, pitchy black ground brought us to 

 Khor Bara, which we again crossed. Its bed was crowded with 

 rocks, and its water was about ten feet broad, and not quite 

 five feet deep. In the open well-tilled country were several 

 little hamlets, and close to the road lay Verbayo, within a stout 

 stockade of wood ; a good many Tephrosia were growing beside 

 its houses, and the indigenous Luffa cucumber and small cala- 

 bashes climbed up them. The short grass looked at a distance 

 as if covered with hoar-frost, an illusion produced by the dew- 

 drops hanging on its reddish flowers. Accustomed as we were 

 to a constant temperature of over 68° Fahr., we felt it quite 

 cold here at 6 3° Fahr. There was an almost entire absence of 

 trees, as yearly fires only permitted the growth of annuals. 

 The village of Otongole had been deserted, as the soil was 

 exhausted. Its site was marked by bananas, gourds, and tobacco 

 plants. The last part of our march was through high grass, 

 with occasional rushes and Cyperaceas, sparse woods, red sandy 

 soil, and stubble-fields, where grasshoppers were chirping. 

 The road rose gently all the way, and brought us, at the end 

 of three hours, to the station of Fatiko, where we were to stay 

 several days. 



5. From Fatiko to Fauvera and Back. 



SCARCITY OF FORESTS IN THE SHULI COUNTRY — A PAPYRUS SWAMP — A 

 FIGHT BETWEEN HYAENAS AND LIONS — A TROPICAL FOREST — RE- 

 CEPTION BY RI6NGA — FAUVERA — PEDIGREE OF THE WAWITU 

 PRINCES — A NOCTURNAL FEAST — SORCERESSES — PRODUCTS OF THE 

 SOIL — MEAT — A STRUGGLE THROUGH GRASS. 



When we despatched our men to reoccupy Fauvera and 

 keep the road to Uganda open, the officers in charge found 

 the old path so full of grass and briers that they preferred 

 to follow the beaten track running from here to Koki, and 

 from that place to try and discover the road used years ago by 

 the Danagla. So too we, leaving on our right the road we 

 had followed before, turned straight towards Jebel Ato, which 



