40 UGANDA AND THE EGYPTIAN SOUDAN.

bent, swaying to and fro with every breeze, while high over all the boughs of the forest trees intermingled, forming a perfect arch, and shutting out the burning rays of the midday sun : flocks of bright-coloured parrots darted past, and troops of monkeys chattered and screamed among the boughs.

Towards the end of the third day's march the forest grew thinner, till at last it disappeared altogether, and we emerged on to the edge of a broad valley with wide expanses of grassland scorched to a dazzling whiteness by the fierce glare of a tropical sun, and looking like desert sand in the distance.

Bed-walled tembes were visible here and there, and, pleasantest sight of all, herds of cattle were roaming about or lay sleepily chewing the cud under the scanty shade of some mimosas. We descended rapidly, passing one or two large villages, and pitched our camp by the dry bed of a stream about the centre of the valley. We soon had crowds of natives round us, attracted by the Waziingu (white men), bringing intama, beans, pumpkins, goats, fowls, eggs, and, last but not least, milk both fresh and sour. This sour, or, rather, curdled milk is generally preferred by negroes to fresh, and is much the same as curds andwhey, and if the watery part is poured off, the solid residue forms a nice dish with sugar or some flavouring matter. At this place, which is called Kitange, we made the acquaintance of the Wahuinba, a subtribe of the Masai. The great Masai tribe occupy