162 
A NATURAL HISTORY EXPEDITION 
common, but of which no representative existed in the Museum 
collection. The sky grew very black, and gusts of wind whirled 
through the gorge, betokening a coming storm, so I hastened 
back to camp, getting there just before the first heavy drops 
began to fall. On the way I heard the ‘chacma, chacma,’ 
cry of a baboon (Papio ibeanus), and looking up saw a great 
beast sitting on a boulder weighing half a ton, on the very 
brink of a 200 -feet precipice. It looked very weird against the 
lowering sky. 
July 18, 1915. — Being Sunday, we remained in camp, and 
about noon the heat was terrific, being retained and reflected 
by the masses of rock on either side, for at this spot the gorge 
was only a hundred feet wide from cliff to cliff. Beside the 
camp was a little trickle of a stream of a rusty-red colour from 
the sap of acacia bark which it absorbed on its way. There 
were a lot of very innocent and Musca-like flies which were 
armed with a sucking proboscis and were as painful in their 
operations as English horse-flies. 
About 11 a.m. we strolled down to where the gorge opened 
out about a quarter of a mile below camp, and here we came 
upon a clear-as-crystal streamlet which we agreed was far 
better for making tea and porridge from than the acacia-bark 
mixture. 
We followed it up, and presently came to the remains of an 
ox lying in it. ‘ Bass ’ (spelt 4 bassi ’), which is the native way of 
saying ‘ ’nuff said.’ This second stream issued from another 
narrow gorge which was as tropical in appearance as one 
could wish, and we proceeded up it for a little way. Mr. Bush, 
noticing steam arising from the stream, put his hand in and 
found the water as hot as he could bear and tracking the 
stream to its source, found the water coming out of the spring 
almost boiling. In the more temperate part there was a 
brilliant green conferva growing in it of that shade which one 
associates with the trees in * Noah’s Arks.’ 
July 19, 1915. — We were astir at dawn and on the march 
by six o’clock. As we wended our way down the sandy- 
gravelly dry river bed, bounded on either side by the limestone 
cliffs afar off, I discerned what I took to be a column of smoke 
from somebody’s camp-fire. As we got nearer it proved to be 
