CHAP. V.] 
GAME AT WAKKALA. 
127 
a sharp turn to the right and left forming a ziggag. 
The whole of the village thus fenced is situated in 
the midst of a splendid forest of large timber. The 
inhabitants of Wakkala are the same as the Ellyria, 
but governed by an independent chief. They are 
great hunters; and as we arrived I saw several parties 
returning from the forest with portions of wild boar 
and buffalo. 
From Gondokoro to this spot I had not seen a 
single head of game, but the immediate neighbourhood 
of Wakkala was literally trodden down by the feet of 
elephants, giraffes, buffaloes, rhinoceros, and varieties 
of large antelopes. 
Having examined the village, I ordered my people 
to unload the animals in the forest about a quarter of 
a mile from the entrance. The soil was extremely 
rich, and the ground being shaded from the scorching 
rays of the sun by the. large trees, there was abundance 
of fine grass, which accounted for the presence of the 
game : good pasturage, extensive forests, and a plen¬ 
tiful supply of water insuring the supply of wild 
animals. 
In a few minutes my horses and donkeys were 
luxuriating on the rich herbage, not having tasted 
grass for some days * the camels revelled in the 
foliage of the dark green mimosas; and the men, 
having found on the march a buffalo that had been 
caught in a trap and there killed by a lion, obtained 
some meat, and the whole party was feeding. We 
had formed a kind of arbour by hacking out with 
a sabre a delightful shady nook in the midst of a 
dense mass of creepers, and there we feasted upon 
a couple of roast fowls that we had procured from 
the natives for glass beads. This was the first meat 
we had tasted since we had quitted Gondokoro. 
At 5.10 p.m. we left this delightful spot, and 
marched. Emerging from the forest we broke upon 
a beautiful plain of fine low grass, bounded on our 
right hand by jungle. This being the cool hour of 
