SESAME AND DOKHN. 351 7, THE LorI CoUNTRY AND THE UPPER YALO AS FAR AS SAYADIN.

A FRUITFUL REGION—GRASS-FIRES—LOST IN THE BUSH—A CONCERT OF LIONS AND DONKEYS—AN AFRICAN GARDEN—PARROTS—THE RIVER YALO.

From Guéri we had to march to Sayadin (the “ hunter’s village”), and in so doing we first passed through the large and numerous villages in the districts of Gueri and Koddu, which were nearly all enclosed in high thorn fences. Helmia and sweet potatoes were cultivated everywhere; the scaffoldings which are used for drying sesame were heavily laden, and specially constructed structures had been raised for the dokhn, which had just been reaped, and was about to be exposed to the sun before being thrashed. Khor Ombolokko, after having received a number of small watercourses, flows into the Yalo, and, like all its tributaries, overflows its banks for a considerable distance. In the kharif it forms a difficult swamp. Its bed is about thirteen feet broad, but when we passed it the stream was only seven feet across and ten inches deep, and contained yellowish loam-coloured water. Whereas the bank on this side of the khor slopes gently, the other is high, and does not permit the water to overflow.

T shall long remember the march from the Ombolokko to Khor Merbu. One of my men had incautiously thrown a light into the withered grass during our halt; the flames immediately blazed up, and, being driven by the north wind, followed at our heels. At such times it is necessary to bring into play all the composure and experience learnt by a long life in the tropics in order to bear with calmness the threatened destruction of valuable notes and collections. Fortunately the broad belt of damp grass at the khor broke the force of the fire, and at the second ford of the winding Merbu, a deep swampy khor, we were able to rest after racing before the flames.

The path we were following had for a long time only been used by natives, so that it was very difficult to find, for in “many places it was overgrown with grass. Our guide therefore,