302 LADO TO KEDIBA. 



before mentioned, were cooing in the tall trees. Otherwise, 

 birds are not plentiful , although red widow-birds (JHuplectes 

 ignicolor) climb about the grass stalks, and the confiding gros- 

 beaks (Crithagra leucopygia) warble their varied stanzas to 

 the wanderer from among the acacias. Khor Koda, which we 

 crossed this time much farther to the north than last year, 

 contained about twenty inches of water in a bed ten feet broad ; 

 at high water, however, it overflows the land far and wide, and 

 one has frequently to wait for days before being able to cross 

 it. The banks are sandy, and three to five feet high. The 

 country lying to the west of the khor is completely flooded in 

 the kharif ; at present a small portion of it is dry, and after 

 crossing it we arrived at the Bamban swamp, through which 

 we waded ; it was in many places over three feet deep. To 

 the right and left of the ford the swamp extends to a distance 

 of about a mile. It is covered with thick grass, except in iso- 

 lated spots, where many hippopotami and still larger numbers of 

 crocodiles are found. Swarms of dragon-flies flutter above the 

 swamp, and are chased by bee-eaters (Merops albicollis). The 

 rise of the ground after passing the swamp is at once made 

 evident by the presence of whole colonies of a species of Sanse- 

 viera (named Tor a in the Nyambara idiom), the fibres of 

 which are used in ropemaking. Shortly before arriving at 

 Tombe's village of Jubba, I noticed cultivated patches of Peni- 

 cillaria, so rarely seen in the Bari country, and the more 

 common eleusine just running to seed. The village lies upon 

 the top of a hill, and overlooks the district of Lofuta, of which 

 it is the chief village. 



The rest of the day passed in building huts and making our- 

 selves comfortable, in making hypsometrical observations and 

 calculating the height of the hill. We were obliged to wait 

 here for porters from Mom, for those who had accompanied us 

 from Lado belonged to this place, and it would not have been 

 right to take them farther. The sun sank, and myriads of 

 glowworms pursued their fiery course through the still air, 

 whilst the stars twinkled overhead, and the sheet-lightning 

 seemed to set the sky on fire for several minutes at a time. 



Chief Tombe had placed his big drum underneath the votive 

 tree which stood in the open space before my hut, and it soon 



