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Lot Essay
In the shadows of Mount Kenya, Leigh encountered the vulturine guinea-fowl, 'Everywhere and anywhere you strolled in this region you were sure to flush large flocks of vulturine guinea-fowl, about as big as chickens, which broke cover with a tremendous whirr and fuss.' (W.R. Leigh, Frontiers of Enchantment, London, 1939, p. 104).
Leigh saw ostriches when at Simpson's Camp in Tanzania which was located 'in one of those flat, scattered acacia forests so characteristic of Africa, but a short drive brought us out upon vast open plains, covered with herds of animals.' (op. cit., p. 128).
Whilst in Lukenia, Leigh observed the secretary bird, 'Shifting my body gradually to look behind me, I beheld not far away, on the level ground, a three-foot-tall secretary bird. His long legs, his head and beak like a hawk's, the quills of his feathered crest lying obliquely back on his neck, and his long tail made a queer combination. I knew about him from my natural history - a freak, but a handsome one.' (op. cit., p. 32 and 34).
Lake Hannington is the subject of Chapter XIX near the Rift Valley. Leigh described arriving at the lake, 'We turned to the right, climbed a gentle slope, and suddenly came in sight of a broad, burnished sheet of shimmering water - Lake Hannington. On it lay bright pink patches, each one about a mile long - flamingos!... As we appeared, a vast cloud of them took flight, like a flurry of snowflakes churned into the sunlit air by a gust of wind...' (op. cit., p. 206 and 208).
Leigh saw ostriches when at Simpson's Camp in Tanzania which was located 'in one of those flat, scattered acacia forests so characteristic of Africa, but a short drive brought us out upon vast open plains, covered with herds of animals.' (op. cit., p. 128).
Whilst in Lukenia, Leigh observed the secretary bird, 'Shifting my body gradually to look behind me, I beheld not far away, on the level ground, a three-foot-tall secretary bird. His long legs, his head and beak like a hawk's, the quills of his feathered crest lying obliquely back on his neck, and his long tail made a queer combination. I knew about him from my natural history - a freak, but a handsome one.' (op. cit., p. 32 and 34).
Lake Hannington is the subject of Chapter XIX near the Rift Valley. Leigh described arriving at the lake, 'We turned to the right, climbed a gentle slope, and suddenly came in sight of a broad, burnished sheet of shimmering water - Lake Hannington. On it lay bright pink patches, each one about a mile long - flamingos!... As we appeared, a vast cloud of them took flight, like a flurry of snowflakes churned into the sunlit air by a gust of wind...' (op. cit., p. 206 and 208).