DROUGHT In AFRICA

The Lorian Swamp marks the termination of a river, the Engare Uaso Nyiro, which enters it by a canallike channel; then degenerates into a disconnected line of pools and a sea of mud.

The whole area is usually covered with grass growing to a height of 10 feet, which conceals a network of elephant and game tracks. If one penetrates into the grass the air becomes alive with clouds of mosquitoes.

Elephant. buffalo, hippopotamus, rhinoceros, and water buck are usually to be found in the swamp, while around the edge oryx, zebra, gerenuk, and Grant's gazelle abound.

Because of the failure of the spring rains, the Uaso Nyiro ceased to flow, and consequently the swamp began to dry up, leaving a few pools of mud here and there in the river bed. Into these pools crowded millions of fish, and soon these-alive, dead, and decomposing-were massed together, completely screening the surface of the water. Some 30 hippopotamuses tried hard to keep under the mud, but with indifferent success.

One hippo had a large open wound the size of a soup plate on his flank. This poor beast, evidently driven frantic by the starving fish, which nibbled at his sore, elected to live on dry land in a thick clump of bushes. Finally, driven insane by suffering, one night he traveled two miles from the pool and was found in the village of a sheik, where, after having caused a panic, it was speared to death.

The swamp was visited daily by herds of elephants searching for water. They mingled unconcernedly with the sheep and goats grazing in the vicinity. One small elephant, while trying to drink, fell down a hole 10 feet deep which had been dug in the dried-up bed by natives in quest of water. Because of the hulk of the beast, it was impossible to rescue him, and there he had to die. Some of the elephants; maddened by thirst, became, a menace to life. I actually saw a goat being prodded to death by one elephant and several children were killed while herding goats. One night an elephant attacked a camel within 100 yards of my camp and prodded the helpless creature to death with its tusks, meanwhile emitting fearful roars.

The masses of putrefying fish and corpses of elephants and a hippo we had shot combined to outdo any wartime gas attack in the strength of the aroma.

It became our daily recreation to watch from an anthill the herds of elephants as they prowled about the swamp. We must have seen hundreds during our fortnight in the neighborhood, but not once did we see a large tusker.

Elephant hunting within the swamp is almost impossible under normal conditions. on account of the soft ground and high grass. The usual method is to camp in the vicinity and every morning examine the edge of the swamp for the spoor of …"