310 KEDIBA TO BITI. 



represented JSvoe Bacche, especially as the beer-jars were in 

 great demand. 



A number of half-tame zebra-ichneumons ran about the 

 village, as well as several fox-red baboons. 



From Morlabba as far as Khor Gurud there is a stretch of 

 very well- cultivated land ; just at the ford the khor receives a 

 tributary, which is now dry. Upon a path cut up by elephants 

 and full of holes we wandered through the steppe jungle, which 

 was rendered almost impassable by high grass, until we came 

 to the bed of Khor Arise, which contained only a little water, 

 twenty to thirty inches deep in places. It was fringed by thick 

 Sizygium bushes, which are found in all such Ichors. For about 

 half an hour we followed this easy road, which is, however, often 

 impracticable for days, and then the path led uphill again to 

 troublesome grass jungle, through which we had laboriously to 

 work our way. Elephants are so numerous here that in an hour's 

 march we came upon four herds, and saw altogether one hun- 

 dred and twenty animals. Unfortunately, these colossal creatures 

 destroy the road by sinking into the soft soil and leaving their 

 footprints filled with water, as well as by throwing the trunks 

 of trees across the path, to which obstacles the chaos of grass 

 and thorns proves no pleasant addition. Guinea-fowl and fran- 

 colins kept flying up every minute from the high grass to the 

 side of the path. In favourable places I noticed a rich growth 

 of yellowish- white fungus, often of considerable dimensions ; 

 whether edible or not I do not know. We rested under a 

 magnificent group of Humboldtias. The Oncoba, which ripens 

 long before this in the south, had only small green fruits here. 

 In the middle of a group of about thirty tall doleb palms the 

 little village of Daso was situated. It was in process of re- 

 moval, however, as the fields were said to have become " old," 

 that is to say, they do not repay cultivation. Nests of a large 

 red ant, constructed of green leaves, and the size of a man's 

 head, are found upon all the bushes ; the bite of these ants is 

 only to be compared to the sensation caused by boiling water 

 on the skin. Numerous bats flew, even by day, around the 

 summits of the doleb palms. Most of the species of bats found 

 here, and especially the large Xanthorpia, do not avoid the 

 light so much as is usually supposed. 



