166 
A NATUEAL HISTOEY EXPEDITION 
( G . Granti) about too, and my companion shot a buck of one of 
these for its meat. Zebras appeared very tame, and several 
times allowed us to come up within thirty yards of them before 
making off. Many of them were accompanied by their young. 
Near Mount Margaret Mr. Bush shot a Stanley bustard 
(Otis caffra), a very fine bird slightly larger than a turkey. 
We also picked up a few lizards along the path, and I glimpsed a 
hissing sand snake disappearing into its hole, the first snake 
seen on the trip. At noon we reached the Kedong Eiver, a 
small affair just over one’s knees. Here I halted, having done 
nineteen miles without a stop except to bag an occasional 
specimen. I paddled about till the safari caught up and then 
on again to Mr. Bowker’s farm, a mile and a half away. We 
were very hospitably received and entertained for the rest of 
the day. 
Camp was pitched under a fig-tree beside a water-furrow 
close to the house. Monotony was kept at bay by a bevy of 
domesticated ostriches which were on the alert to pick up what 
came their way ; one of them seized the body of a bird just 
removed from its skin by my boy. About noon a swarm of 
locusts arrived which had been haunting the neighbourhood for 
the past three weeks ; they took five hours to pass over — it was 
like a snowstorm in many ways, the air being all a-flutter with 
them. 
After tea a friend of the family took me down to see a curious 
phenomenon in the shape of a poison hole ; the gas came from a 
crevice in the rock, and was so heavy that it did not rise two feet 
above the ground ; it felt quite hot about my feet and legs. The 
gas, whatever it is, must be pretty strong, for there were the bones 
of a buffalo that had lain down (probably to sleep) and died. 
Quite recently they picked up a fine horned owl at the spot, and 
dead snakes were found fairly often. I saw hundreds of butter- 
flies dead in the grass that had fallen victims to the fumes. 
Saw a wild pig that made off very quickly. Hurried back 
to the house in the gathering dusk. Turned in about 11 p.m., 
after a creditably long day in which I had walked twenty-three, 
if not twenty-five, miles. 
\ Next morning we climbed up the steep path for about three 
miles through the woods to Escarpment Station. There were 
