142 THROUGH UNKNOWN AFRICAN COUNTRIES. 
“ 
droves of camels. There were many lion tracks about the 
wells of Mada Garci, so I had a zareba built, and tethering 
out a sick camel, took up my position with Dodson for the 
night. About midnight, however, it began to rain hard, 
and we were forced to run back to camp, as we were afraid 
of fever. But we only got a few hours’ rest, for about four 
o'clock in the morning Salan came to me with the news 
that lions were eating the camel we had left. I crept over 
quietly with Dodson, and three men I could rely upon, 
towards the water-hole. There was a good deal of excite- 
ment in stalking a supposed lion in the night-time, but | 
provided against the risk as best I could by arming Dodson 
with my .577, Salan with a twelve-bore shot-gun loaded with 
spherical bullets, and another boy with a shot-gun loaded 
with S. S. G. shot, while I carried my eight-bore. 
As we approached the camel our hearts beat rapidly. 
But a few more steps, and — instead of the noble lion, a 
couple of wretched hyenas glided off through the darkness. 
Our disappointment was great, as the camel had groaned 
as though lions had attacked it. 
Aiter two long marches through the sparsely settled 
Afgab country, we found a pool of water, near the foot of 
arange of hills, that tasted quite fresh. One can hardly 
imagine our joy at finding this water, as we had not had 
a single good drink since we left the Shebeli River. As 
we approached the water a lion darted out of the bushes, 
but was off before I could get a shot at him. We had now 
passed beyond the Afgab, and were in the country of the 
Dagodi; but though there were many tracks of natives 
about the springs, they had evidently fled on our approach. 
There were many men still sick, and the rear of the cara- 
van was not a lively sight, with a lot of invalids looking 
like grim death, and having to be urged along at every 
step. 
