XIV 
RETURN TO LAKE RUDOLPH 
333 
absence of the latter, this country of course produces no honey, 
though I did manage to get a little of very inferior quality, 
which came, I was told, from the hills. 
But, notwithstanding these little discomforts, I was happy 
enough during the two months I spent in this camp. I was 
able to get milk daily even here, though I was forced to give 
corn brought from Kere in exchange for it, as these people do 
not care much for trade goods, and are generally, as already 
explained, short of food. The bones which strew the ridge 
for a mile or more in the neighbourhood of their kraals testify 
to the number of their cattle before the dire plague of some 
six years ago had decimated the herds of Central Africa. 
Another luxury I had here was eggs. There are only one or 
two kraals (in Bumi) where the natives keep a few fowls, and 
I bought up all I could get and started a poultry-yard of my 
own with about ten tiny hens and a cock. These kept me 
supplied with their funny little eggs, and afforded me a certain 
amount of interest besides. They never laid more than ten or 
a dozen eggs each before wanting to sit, but soon began again 
when prevented from indulging this instinct; but what attracted 
my attention most about them was that, as a rule, they never 
cackled after laying, in fact there was only one that ever did 
so. I had every opportunity of observing this peculiarity, 
because many of them used to lay in my hut. This seemed 
to me a rather singular fact, and may go to prove that these 
little fowls are more nearly related to the wild progenitors of 
the race than our European breeds. The cock became dear to 
me from his cheery crow, announcing the near approach of the 
welcome dawn and the end of the tedious, oppressive night. 
During the time that I was here there were several heavy 
thunderstorms. I supposed these to be the heralds of the wet 
season, which ought to arrive about April ; but they were 
about all the wet season we experienced that year. Probably 
this was an exceptionally meagre allowance of rain, even for 
this country ; but there can be no doubt that the climate is a 
