DISTRESSING MARCHES TO AIMOLA., 171 
Dodson one of the most intelligent boys in camp, by 
name Moga, to assist him in collecting. Moga had been 
a servant to an officer on a French man-of-war, and had 
seen much of the world. A more willing fellow, and a 
more intelligent Somali, I never saw. But poor Moga! 
he was never to have the opportunity of seeing his pretty 
little wife and children in Aden again, as he had but a 
month more in which to enjoy life. 
The next day we had another long march of nearly nine 
hours, reaching a little opening in the bushes where we 
could camp at two o'clock. I lost five camels in this 
march, one of them serving as food for us all; and to in- 
crease our difficulties, many of the men had a relapse of 
their fevers, and had to be helped or carried along. In 
order to lighten the camels, I was obliged to throw away 
seven boxes, five of them containing wine and tinned fruit; 
a heart-rending thing to do, but absolutely necessary. At 
half-past three in the morning, two hours before daybreak, 
we were off again, every one in the gloomiest spirits. I 
was much afraid of losing half my camels, but there was 
no help for it. Luckily the day turned out cloudy, which 
was a blessing both for camels and men. We plodded on 
through a beautiful mountainous district, the camels doing 
better than I expected, although the loads had to be con- 
stantly changed from one tired beast to another. My good 
cow Dinko stopped giving milk, as she could get no water; 
but still she would always lead the caravan. The milch 
camel Gaut that Wal-da-Gubbra had given us, however, 
did not mind the march at all. We were obliged to be 
very careful of our water, Dodson and I together having 
to content ourselves with one small vegetable tin of the 
precious fluid to wash in each twenty-four hours. The 
great question was, “ Shall we reach the pond, and shall we 
find water in it to-morrow? If not, what privations may 
