292 GONDOKOKO TO OBBO. 



Okkela has long been noted for its astonishing abundance of 

 game, and for the collector it is a real paradise. The number 

 and variety of monkeys is particularly striking, and the lions 

 are so numerous that you meet with them in twos or threes on 

 every excursion into the wood, but they have never been known 

 to attack men, while leopards are, on the contrary, much dreaded. 



Five hours' journey towards the east-south-east takes the 

 traveller through park land and growing crops to Loronio, Chief 

 Latome's village, which, picturesquely situated on a high hill, 

 probably contains 1500 to 2000 inhabitants in its bamboo- 

 fenced houses. The old chief, famous far and wide as a 

 rainmaker, is also ruler of thirteen other villages, which lie 

 scattered over the country, and pay him taxes with great 

 punctuality. A splendid view is obtained from the summit of 

 the Loronio hill, of the Loligono peak, to the north-north-west, 

 in the Ber district, of the whole group of the Lokoya moun- 

 tains, and of the long western, southern, and south-eastern chains 

 of the Latuka mountains, right down to Jebel Sereten, Jebel 

 Dongotolo, and the distant Logere summits. The imposing 

 Jebel Ekara — visible even from Rinyak — stands out among the 

 other mountains, its truncated pyramid being surmounted by two 

 pinnacles. It is called in Latuka, Chufa], and in Obbo, where 

 it lies, Jebel Okirri, and may safely be identified with Jebel 

 Asul (the " Honey Hill ") of Baker's map, said to attain an 

 altitude of 4000 or 5000 feet. The Lafit and Ittatok 

 summits in the Lafit range, with the lofty Lodin, as well as 

 Kilio in the south-western range, are very considerable eleva- 

 tions. Altogether Latuka presents a very mountainous aspect 

 here, its main valley running from north-west to south-east. 

 The swampy land round Loronio harbours numbers of herons 

 and storks, but far more remarkable are the many Balearic 

 cranes, which walk solemnly about the fields in twos and threes. 



Khor Koz lies close to the station ; it is now a broad and 

 deep stream, but in winter it is quite empty, and therefore can 

 hardly be considered anything more than a rain-water channel. 

 On the way to Tarangole, the chief station in the Latuka dis- 

 trict, this khor runs along near the road to the right hand, 

 and often approaches quite close to it. The valley is here still 

 very broad, but the Lafit chain encroaches on it to the left. 



