262 
TEAVELS m CENTEAL AFEICA. 
tent was pitched at noon^ to repose during the great heat of the 
day. The daily rains have ceased for some time, and we are fast 
gliding into the dry season, and the heat perceptibly increases day 
by day ; no refreshing wind blew to counteract the snn^s heat, now 
far in the northern equinox. At three p.m. we were wending our 
way through the same style of bush over a slightly undulating 
country, thickly strewn with boulders of coarse red sandstone. 
A little more than two hours^ march brought us to four small 
stockaded villages, called Moro ; the western, inhabited by the 
chief, we chose for our quarters, the men, as usual, encamping with 
the natives, and ourselves in our tent outside, and guarded by sen- 
tinels at night. 
November 2^th . — Leaving our quarters at 7.25, we marched 
with more easting, the direction having hitherto been southerly, 
with an occasional easting and westing. The ground passed over 
was similar to that of yesterday. Skirting two small villages, 
where the old stockades were being removed, we entered tall grass, 
and subsequently a finely wooded plain, where the tamarind trees 
were numerous, many delaeb palms, and the tree bearing fruit 
called kurchaka. A short distance from the pathway we halted 
in the vicinity of a village, where we hoped to barter for grain ; but 
the aborigines were surly and refused. We here again remarked 
the beautiful red flowering shrub first observed at Adael : its mass 
of crimson flower is beautiful, though somewhat marred by the 
entire absence of foliage. The path, as we proceeded, became 
troublesome from the high, coarse grass, forming an archway to 
the height of a man^s head or shoulders, presenting a formidable 
obstacle to our progress. Thick bush and high trees succeeded : 
the mimosa and cactus were conspicuous. Red sandstone boulders 
