GUFTAMLO. 
353 
the evening we arrived at Guftamlo, when Mr. Pearce being 
taken ill, we were under the necessity of leaving him behind. I 
On the 10th we departed from Guftamlo, at half past five, 
and travelled over a sandy and parched plain, a few isolated 
spots alone having been cultivated with mishella, the old stalks 
of which were still remaining, and measured from nine to twelve 
feet high. As I was passing through a field of this towering grain, 
it brought strongly to my recollection a circumstance in Swift's 
Travels in Brobdignag," and I could not help feeling myself, 
for a moment, in a situation similar to that of Gulliver, when 
lost among the ridges of corn. Near this spot I shot a very rare 
bird (Cursorius Europsreus) which, from its colour, could with dif- 
ficulty be distinguished from the soil. 
After crossing this plain, we came to some irregular hills, so 
thickly covered with low trees and brushwood, that it was with 
the utmost difficulty that we could make our way, the road being 
as bad as can be well conceived, and every bush and tree being 
covered with terribly large thorns. We managed fortunately, 
hovvever, to get through without any serious injury, and imme- 
diately afterwards descended into a deep sandy gully, which in 
the rainy season forms the bed of a torrent. This gully strongly 
resembled the pass from Hamhammo to Taranta, and the same 
species of trees were found growing in it, chieliy consisting of 
capers, juniper, tamarind trees, and a large species of Adansonia, 
called Entata, similar to the one I have before described as 
common at Mosambique. The fruit of the tamarind tree was 
in high perfection, and afforded us a grateful refreshment. 
After another slight descent, a broad expanse of country opened 
