IN DANGER FROM NATIVES. Ig! 
have a little bit of excitement I had not expected, as upon 
starting back to camp I perceived crowds of natives coming 
from all directions to a rendezvous. We had only two 
rifles with us, and certainly felt most uncomfortable when 
we saw a body of about a hundred men, mounted on ponies, 
emerge from the bushes close tous. There was no mis- 
taking the purpose of the natives in assembling here, as 
many of them wore ostrich feathers in their hair, a sure 
sign of war. We walked on as though quite unconcerned, 
but it seemed to take us an endless time to reach camp, 
feeling almost sure that the next instant the natives would 
finish us. 
As I look back upon that time, | am amazed that the 
natives did not attack us. They evidently thought they 
had better concentrate their forces more before they began 
their war. When I reached camp with my two boys, I 
was surprised to find several Boran seated in a friendly 
manner about my tent, pretending that they were not pre- 
paring to fight us, but that they were going to make 
war upon the Rendile,—a tribe living to the south. I 
could scarcely believe them, however, but gave immediate 
orders to have all the camels brought close to camp, and a 
strict guard to be kept. One Boran remained in camp till 
the next morning to guide us on our way; but, neverthe- 
less, I had twenty sentries on guard all night. 
The next day we marched nine hours through a very 
bushy country, keeping the caravan as close together as 
possible. Our Boran guide acknowledged that we had 
travelled peacefully through the country so far, and_pro- 
tested that his people would not think of attacking us, and 
several little bands of natives we met along the road also 
acted in such a friendly way that we began to feel more 
at our ease. We did not find any water, but camped in an 
opening among the bushes, fortunately having provided for 
