A BASE LEPER, the clay. The dews were frequently so heavy that the ground in the morning would be as wet as though it had been raining heavily ; it was impossible to know when to expect them, as the night after one, and in the same place, it would perhaps be quite dry.

On our return to camp I saw some /////, and missed one very badly. This was the only shot either of us fired all day. We saw the fresh tracks of more than one rhinoceros, an animal none of us had ever encountered. A great addition to the cuisine was made by Ali our cook, in the shape of wild tomatoes, which he found growing near the Mareb ; they were small, but of good flavour. Ali had travelled formerly along that part of the Mareb which runs through Abyssinia, where he said there was any quantity ; and he had been on the lookout for them for days.

One day when Aylmer and Colvin were out shooting, they came across a most saddening sight. Late in the afternoon they had shot a couple of antelopes, one of which they had left in the bush whilst engaged in cutting up the other. On returning to the first one, they discovered one of the most loathsome specimens of suffering humanity it had ever been their lot to witness ; a bent and decrepit old man, wasted with disease, and covered with the most hideous sores, was busily employed in gorging himself upon the antelope's entrails. He proved to be a leper, who had been ostracised by his tribe on account of his disease. How he kept body and soul together, it was impossible to divine. The Base who were with them expressed the utmost fear of approaching him, and were horrified at Colvin for daring to tender him a more tempting portion of the animal.

We spent two more days in shooting, before shifting our camp. There was, evidently, plenty of game ; but owing to the