BERBERA— THE START. 9 
were ready for me, and these were in, a. half-starved ‘con- 
dition, and were getting poorer every day they remained 
near the coast. It was intensely hot; the thermometer in 
the day-time registered 110 in the shade, while at night 
it would range from 95 to 100 Fahr. Great wind storms 
were raging at the same time, and the blasts of hot air, 
carrying with them clouds of dust and sand, seemed to 
emanate from a fiery furnace. All the same we were 
obliged to stop ten days, as we had much work to do here, 
buying supplies of dates and rice and ghee for my men, 
and dividing up the camel loads. I determined to take 
with me one hundred and fifty days’ supply of food for my 
boys, in addition to my enormous stock of trading goods. 
The regular daily rations I allowed my boys were one 
pound of rice, one half-pound of dates, and two ounces of 
chee, or clarified butter, per man. Forty-three camels were 
required to carry the native food. There were in all one 
hundred boxes containing copper vessels full of spirit for 
collecting reptiles, fishes, and batrachia; cases for collect- 
ing birds, insects, etc.; instruments, cartridges, a collapsi- 
ble Berthon boat, and countless other things. It was hard 
work dividing up the loads and getting every man accus- 
tomed to the various positions to which he was appointed, 
although Capt. L. Z. Cox — Acting Resident at Berbera 
and Mrs. Cox did what they could to make our stay as 
agreeable as possible. I engaged twenty-seven other men 
at Berbera, making a total number of eighty-two followers, 
including Gillett’s escort of twelve riflemen. 
On the roth of July we resolved to make a start, 
although we did not have nearly the requisite number of 
camels, and the number that I already had were gradually 
becoming weaker and weaker from the lack of proper food. 
I had managed to buy only eighty-four camels up to the 
time of starting, including the twenty that belonged to my 
