108 PERSONAL NARRATIVM. 



Centropus superciliosus, none of which I had previously 

 seen. In the evening the lioness again crossed the stream 

 near our camp, and we follow^ed her, but she went away 

 at once. In going after her we saw a leopard, which 

 also escaped. 



Ailat is notorious for lions and leopards, many of 

 which are man-eaters, and many people are killed by 

 these animals. It is a most curious circumstance that 

 whereas on the route followed by the army, not forty 

 miles farther south, lions were only seen on two or three 

 occasions, and not a single animal was shot, although 

 there were dozens of sportsmen eager for the chance, 

 at Ailat, and throughout our subsequent journey, we 

 frequently met them ; and scarcely a day passed without 

 our seeing their fresh tracks. 



The temperature was certainly very hot, rising to 

 about 108° in the day, and falling to 75° in the early 

 morning before sunrise; but this was an agreeable change 

 from Massowa, where night and day the thermometer 

 never fell below about 87° or 88° Fahr. I very soon 

 recovered, but Jesse unfortunately had a rather smart 

 attack of fever, apparently produced by exposure to 

 the sun. 



I procured many birds during the six days we re- 

 mained at Ailat ; amongst them were Nisus niloticus, 

 Nilaus brubru, Tochus erythrorhynchus, Quelea cethi- 

 opica, Peristera afra, and jEgiatilis tricollaris. I also 

 found some species which elsewhere I had only met 

 at a much greater elevation (Ailat is less than 1,000 

 feet above the sea), such as Tchitrea melanogastra, 



