182 AFRICAN WANDERINGS.

ling seemed to us to announce the outburst of some such beast of prey ; then, ere Jong we came on a yet fresh, half-devoured ga«elle, from its feast on which some wild beast had been disturbed. Footsteps of elephants, quite recent, we saw in great numbers; seemingly they had visited the durra-field at night. Among the various birds, we particularly remarked many small pigeons, about as large as a stare, with tails three-quarters of a foot long, of a brown-red colour, as was also the plumage under their wings. At last we came on a large gazelle, and having luckily shot him, made our way back, and ere long were feasting on a piece of him, which tasted to us excellent, and not unlike our roe venison; much we lamented no juice of the grape was to be had, to rejoice our longing and languishing palates.

Jackals and hyenas are here in plenty ; the young of both were brought us, but we had no Avish to be now troubled with them.

Chameleons, too, were to be found hanging and basking in large numbers on the trees round.

On taking a ride, at mid-day, to the village of Dabaab, some half-hour's journey off, to visit the sick Kadi Ali, we found everywhere about hollows, or sunken places, which formed large marshes, and explained why, during and after the rainy season, the country round about is so unhealthy ; for the vegetable and animal matter, when decaying, and the accompanying exhalations, must produce an atmosphere remarkably well adapted to bring on fever. In Dabaab we were closely inspected and examined by all, as, seemingly, before us no white-skin had ever been seen in the village. This is of great extent, and seems to have many inhabitants ; we also saw many cattle, and a certain prosperity and wealth seemed to peep out from all about us. But they possess, as we afterwards learned, only very few camels, and their horses, bought in Abyssinia for ten to fifteen top*, are small and not enduring. Asses, cattle, sheep, and goats they have in abundance. Besides the one great thorn enclosure, there were some smaller ones round the dwellings of the different families. The houses, or tokuls, were of tolerable size, and almost on every one had storks built their nests ; here this bird is sacred, and it would be * Pieces of cotton cloth.