SESAME AND DOKHN. 351 



7. The Lori Country and the Upper Yalo as far as 



Sayadin. 



A FRUITFUL REGION — GRASS-FIRES — LOST IN THE BUSH — A CONCERT OF 

 LIONS AND DONKEYS — AN AFRICAN GARDEN — PARROTS — THE RIVER 

 YALO. 



From Gueri we had to march to Sayadin (the " hunter's 

 village "), and in so doing we first passed through the large and 

 numerous villages in the districts of Gueri and Koddu, which 

 were nearly all enclosed in high thorn fences. Helmia and 

 sweet potatoes were cultivated everywhere ; the scaffoldings 

 which are used for drying sesame were heavily laden, and 

 specially constructed structures had "been raised for the dokhn, 

 which had just been reaped, and was about to be exposed to 

 the sun before being thrashed. Khor Ombolokko, after having 

 received a number of small watercourses, flows into the Yalo, 

 and, like all its tributaries, overflows its banks for a consider- 

 able distance. In the kharif it forms a difficult swamp. Its 

 bed is about thirteen feet broad, but when we passed it the 

 stream was only seven feet across and ten inches deep, and 

 contained yellowish loam- coloured water. Whereas the bank 

 on this side of the khor slopes gently, the other is high, and 

 does not permit the water to overflow. 



I shall long remember the march from the Ombolokko to 

 Khor Merbu. One of my men had incautiously thrown a 

 light into the withered grass during our halt ; the flames 

 immediately blazed up, and, being driven by the north wind, 

 followed at our heels. At such times it is necessary to bring 

 into play all the composure and experience learnt by a long 

 life in the tropics in order to bear with calmness the threatened 

 destruction of valuable notes and collections. Fortunately the 

 broad belt of damp grass at the khor broke the force of the fire, 

 and at the second ford of the winding Merbu, a deep swampy 

 khor, we were able to rest after racing before the flames. 



The path we were following had for a long time only been 

 used by natives, so that it was very difficult to find, for in 

 many places it was overgrown with grass. Our guide therefore, 



