142 AN EXCURSION TO LUR.

were scattered, surrounded by banana groves and numerous plantations of sesame and sweet potatoes. The whole country has a very homely look, and this impression is enhanced by the obliging and kindly manners of the inhabitants. As Wadelai’s village is situated at some distance from here, we had to wait until messengers had been sent to him. ‘The river, dotted over by many reed islands, is very broad. On the east bank a herd of thirty or forty elephants was peacefully grazing, and here there was a broad fringe of rushes. Close by the bank the depth of the water is 114 feet; a little farther, about 48 feet. Sounding showed that the bottom of the river was composed of thick grey clay, containing large quantities of vegetable detritus and a great number of small snails; we collected specimens of the latter.

In the meantime a brisk traffic had sprung up on the bank, wood for the steamer, sweet potatoes, gourds, bananas, and fowls being exchanged for glass beads. We visited the little villages without hindrance. They consist of compounds containing ten or twelve small dome-shaped huts with porched entrances, which latter are often seen in Unyoro. Very clean receptacles for corn, covered and calked with red clay, and with a raised handle on either side, stand on wooden frames between the huts. Several miniature huts are dedicated to the spirits, but stand empty. In the centre of the village a small roof raised on posts marks a grave where the blood of a goat is occasionally offered to the dead. Frames for drying sesame were heavily laden with bundles of it. The country is adorned by many high trees, which shelter a large number of birds; among them I noticed the goshawk (Astur polyzonus), Sprzactus occipitalis, another yellowish brown hawk, sunbirds (Nectarinia pulchella), the common widow-bird, still in full feather, many weaver-birds, and a species of pipit. A messenger from the chief came late in the evening with a large tusk of ivory as a present. He was commissioned to inquire whether my intentions were good or bad, and having been sufficiently enlightened on this point, he returned with presents both for the chief and for himself.

The mornings at this season of the year are very misty. It was only to-day (November 17) that I was able to take a sight