EXPERIENCES IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA. 705 
creepers and fibres, grew extravagantly, their broad feathery 
leaves being reflected in the clear pools and depths of the river, 
though the densely thick undergrowth often made getting 
down to the water’s edge difficult ; there was a very con- 
spicuous shrub growing in abundance here, it was something 
like a laurel with large dark green leaves and clusters of brilliant 
s( iii let bei ries 01 Iruit which my boys eat with great enjoyment 
though to me they seemed hard and tasteless. There was 
also a bush growing about twelve feet high, covered with pale 
yellow flowers with a very sweet smell, and many others 
equally beautiful whose names I did not know. On the rocks 
by the river a beautiful blue Lizard was common, about 
twelve inches long, the skin of its throat was bright pink, 
and it could inflate it at will, while the pools were alive with 
Crocodiles, enormous Turtles, and Water Terrapins of certainly 
two species ; I caught a little Crocodile in a landing net and 
kept it alive in a basin for several days, it was about eighteen 
inches long and fed freely on small bits of raw meat. 
Most animals require to drink at least once a day and so 
a river generally means game, and we got a lot of nice things 
while we were at this camp ; Impalla. a very pretty graceful 
Antelope were common, while the stately Waterbuck were not 
scarce ; occasionally in going through the thick bush by the 
river we would disturb a timid Reedbuek from his midday 
siesta, and he would go bounding away in a series of enormous 
leaps unless a lucky bullet stopped him. 
We were always keenly on the look out for Rhinoceros, 
but so far, although we had seen fresh traces we had not come 
across any ; in fact in this open bush where we then were we 
might see anything, Lion, Buffalo, or Rhino, all might be met 
with at any moment, and I never went ioo yards from camp 
without a “ boy ” carrying my .404 Express. 
This camp was a splendid place for birds, though one shot 
many which fell into the thick bush and could not be collected ; 
large Hawks of two or three species were always flying round 
the tents to see what they could pick up and were so tame 
that they would swoop down and carry off the dead body of 
a bird which had been skinned and thrown a few yards away. 
