visible at eigbt miles’ distance. After the first eight
miles, which terminates the cultivated district of Sala-
we, the track penetrated a waterless desert of thorn
and small tree-forest, lying in a broad valley between
low hills. As the sick Beluch still occupied my steadier
donkey Ted, I was compelled to mount the half-broken
Jenny—so playful with her head and heels that neither
the Sheikh nor any other man dared sit upon her. The
man’s sickness appears to be one of those eccentric
complaints, the after-effects of African fevers: it was
attended with severe pain, and swelling extending over
the stomach, the right side, the right arm, and the
right half of the neck, depriving him of sleep and repose.
In every position, whether sitting, lying, standing,
rising up, or sitting down, he complained of
aching muscles. I purchased a goat and sheep for the
men for one dhoti merikani.
28th.— Halt. This stoppage was for the restoration
of wounded feet, the pagazis’ being all blistered by the
last four long marches. I now slaughtered and gave
the two purchased animals to the men, as no one
grumbled at my refusing the last bullock, a recognised
present for the whole party, though nominally given
to the Sahib. These people, like the Arabs, and all
those who have many wives, seem to find little enjoyment
in that domestic bliss so interesting and beautiful
in our English homes. Except on rare occasions,
the husband never dines with his wife and family,
always preferring the exclusive society of his own sex:
even the boys, disdaining to dine with their mothers,
mess with the men; whilst the girls and women, having
no other option, eat a separate meal by themselves.
2 9th.—We started at 6 a .m., and marched thirteen
miles to a village at the northern extremity of the district.
The face of the country is still very irregular,
sometimes rising into hills, at other times dropping
into dells, but very well cultivated in the lower portion
; whilst the brown granite rocks, with trees and
brushwood covering the upper regions, diversify the
colouring, and form a pleasing contrast to the scene;
added to this, large and frequent herds graze about
the fields and amongst the villages, and give animation
to the whole. Amongst the trees, palms take
a prominent part. Indeed, for tropical scenery, there
are few places that could equal th is ; and if the traveller,
as he moves along, surrounded by the screeching,
howling, inquisitive savages, running rudely about
and boisterously jostling him, could only divest himself
of the idea that he is a bear baited by a yelping
pack of hounds, the journey would be replete with
enjoyment.
Crossing some hills, the caravan sprang a covey of
guinea-fowls, and at some springs in a valley I shot
several couple of sand-grouse, darker in plumage than
any I ever saw in Africa or India, and not quite so
big as the Tibet bird. The chief of the village offered
me a bullock; but as the beast did not appear until the
time of starting, I declined it. Neither did I give
him any cloth, being convinced in my mind that these
and other animals have always been brought to me by