AFRICAN PARROTS. 58, characteristic of the south; in all depressions it is covered by a thick layer of black detritus. The corn-fields are inhabited by numerous parrots, which are seen in companies of from two to six, and are not at all wild.

In the whole of our province I only know of three species of parrot—the Palworms torquata, which is widely distributed, and called by the Arabs durrah, or more commonly sitéte dudu ; the Pionas Meyer, which is also common; and, farther _ south, the elegant Agapornis pullaria, which plays great havoc with the corn-fields. In the extreme south the well-known erey parrot, Psittacus erythacus, is also met with.

All of a sudden, a very conspicuous mountain mass, situated in the middle of the steppe-wood, came into sight. Its centre rose higher than Jebel Nyerkani, near Ladd; at each end it had long spurs; the Negroes called it Jebel Tobe. After passing Khor Deluru, we left the beaten path and struck through the wood, until we at last found a good road, which led us straight to the banks of Khor Yalo, here a beautiful stream, which shoots with a roar over the rocks filling its bed, and is fringed by forests. It was a hundred and sixty-five feet broad and thirty inches deep. Many small streams flowed across our road into the river; one of them, Khor Lau, was edged by incipient “ gallery” woods. Khor Ofo is noteworthy on account of the flats on its northern bank. Mather broad white belts of gneiss were noticed in the red soil as far as Chief Ritku’s village, Mbaro, which lay at about ten minutes’ distance from our path. Many hyenas howled in the grass, but were cautious enough to keep out of our way. For a few moments a somewhat lofty range of mountains came into sight ; my guide called it Dokolo, but I cannot find it marked upon any map. From the village of Kyéro, where we halted, we obtained a good view of the mountain; it is not seen, however, from the station of Sayadin, which has been newly built in the middle of a wood. This village is a small place, situated on the bank of Yalo, and is a centre where game of every kind, especially elephants, is found, and a large quantity of ivory can be obtained.