THE MAU FOREST 
195 
beautiful black-and-white Guereza monkey ( Colobus ) 
in these forests. The only sign of its existence met 
with was a skin brought me by a Swahili on the 
Mob. 
One night we encamped on an “ open ” where just 
previously Lord Hindlip had shot a buffalo bull whose 
horns measured, between inside bends, 45 ins. We 
saw nothing beyond a single bushbuck; but the grass 
here, not having been burnt, was rank and coarse in the 
extreme, most distasteful to game. The further west 
we went, the worse this feature grew—the rankness of 
the grass. At the furthest points reached, it looked 
as though it had not been burnt for centuries, and 
the total absence of spoor, old or other, showed 
that no game frequented that district. We therefore 
turned back towards the better-burnt “ opens ” near 
Kishobo, where we had already proved the presence of 
buffalo. 
On these farthest opens grew lovely lilies, “ ever¬ 
lastings,” and foxgloves—though these are probably not 
their correct l^ames. 
Although the unburnt grass seemed to indicate a 
total absence of humanity, even in its lowest forms, yet 
on different occasions we met with evidence bespeaking 
the proximity of savage neighbours. Twice we found 
the forest-trail obstructed by trees purposely felled 
athwart it; and twice we fell in with native huts in 
the jungle. More primitive human dwellings could not 
be; they consisted merely of withy boughs stuck round 
in a circle, their supple tops bent across to meet over 
the centre—wigwam style. A few leafy branches served 
to cover in this frame—width 6 ft., height ft. 
Also, while lying awaiting buffalo at dusk, we both 
heard, or thought we heard, human voices, and we 
certainly did see the wreathing smoke of fires. There 
were savages of some sort in this otherwise lifeless 
jungle—presumably Sotik or other nomad Wandorobo. 
The Sotik tribe, it may be recalled, had broken out in 
rebellion some few months previously, but only made a 
