LETTER FROM SIR R. G. HARVEY. 
277 
On the 18th, after ordering the men under Martin’s guid¬ 
ance to cross the river and pitch camp near the village, which 
was half a mile higher up, 1 started off through the forest on 
the northern bank. I saw large quantities of crested guinea- 
fowl, after which I sent the dogs. They, however, failed to 
tree any of them. I was very anxious to find here a striped 
bush-buck which Hunter had seen the day before. On getting 
out of the forest I crossed an open plain on which some tope 
and kuru were feeding. We then entered a lot of very thick 
cactus full of the little N. Kirlcii. There were game-paths 
here in all directions, but I saw very little, and only killed a 
large wart-hog sow. On telling my guide to lead the way 
home, I had considerable doubts as to the line he was taking, 
and on referring to my compass found that he was going 
nearly due east instead of south-west, in which direction I felt 
fairly confident was the river. My men seemed more inclined 
to trust the guide than myself, but I struck out what I con¬ 
sidered was the line, and at length found myself in the proxi¬ 
mity of the river. Upon reaching our new camp at Connor, 
I found that Greenfield had killed an oryx and Hunter a 
Walleri; they had also seen lesser kudu, and seemed altogether 
to be rather pleased with their morning’s exploration. 
This turned out to be the pleasantest camp that we had 
anywhere on the Tana. Our tents were pitched under a shady 
tree on a high bank of the river, and as the wind blew directly 
across it, it somewhat tempered the hot dry air. We stopped 
here two days, and bagged three Walleri, two lesser kudu, 
and a Granti. Wishing to explore the country farther from 
the river on the north side, we, after considerable difficulty, 
struck a bargain with four Gallas, who agreed to take us to a 
place where there was water and game abounded. The whole 
caravan had again to cross the river, a tedious and by no means 
safe proceeding. We then, after an hour and a half’s march, 
chiefly through long grass and forest, arrived at a large shallow 
pool of fresh rain-water. This turned out a good camp for 
game, we in four days bagging eight Hunteri, five lesser 
