BACK AT WANDI. 380 the yellow-backed widow-bird climbed about the grass; as then, Khor Torre rushed by—but the master of the house, who had taken such a pride in these gardens, and who had hospitably kept an open house for every needy one, was sleeping beneath the sod, After a day’s rest here for the sake of the porters, the march was again resumed. On my former Makraka journey, in August 1880, we had hardly found water enough to drink along this road; now, however, in November, in consequence of very heavy summer rain, all the pools were full, and most of our time was occupied in wading through mud and water. From the durrah-fields we heard the cry of the boys stationed there to frighten off the elephants competing with that of hundreds of frogs which croaked by the side of the road. The bridge which spanned Khor Bandama, a tributary of the Torre, had been destroyed by the high water, which we had therefore to ford by a ledge of rock which stretched across its bed. The steppe commences just behind the Bari villages near this khor. It is composed of grey loamy soil, overgrown with high grass and a few trees, and crossed by many khors ; it would probably be worth cultivating. We next reached the stony rubble which is scattered over the ground near the station, and then, after passing several watercourses near which bananas were cultivated, we entered the station of Wandi, the oldest village in the province of Makraka. At this place my route joined that which I had previously laid down, and this year’s excursion came to an end.