A LOST OPPORTUNITY 67 



Ndara. Fortunately I was so much better that it did not seem 

 necessary to delay the commencement of this march. I was 

 cheered by the capture of a Hzard about two and a half feet 

 long {Monitor albogiilaris , Daud.), and began to take sufficient 

 interest in things in general, to record the few meteorological 

 observations which my imperfect outfit allowed. In order to 

 lessen the fatigues of the journey, however, it was decided to 

 start at midnight and make three short marches next day. It 

 poured with rain all night, and the clouds made it so dark that 

 we had to postpone our departure till the morning. As soon 

 as the first streak of dawn appeared, we filed out of camp on 

 to the muddy track. Anxious to avoid exposure to the mid- 

 day sun, I went on ahead as quickly as I could. Just after 

 daybreak, on turning a sharp corner, I surprised a herd of five 

 sable antelope {Hippotragus niger, Harr.), which dashed off at 

 once through the jungle. Had I known that this was the only 

 time that I should have seen this, the noblest as well as one 

 of the rarest of African antelopes, the temptation to follow them 

 would have been irresistible. A few paces farther on was the 

 fresh " spoor " or track of a lion, which appeared to have only 

 just crossed the path. Probably it was stalking the herd when 

 I came up, and had occupied the attention of the antelopes, so 

 that I was allowed to approach close to them before they 

 noticed me. 



A sharp march of ten miles brought us to Butchuma, where 

 we rested till two in the afternoon. Then we started off again, 

 to try to reach a camping-place at the end of the road cut 

 through the jungle. At six o'clock, however, we found a pool, 

 and, as Omari was far behind with a sick Askari, I decided to 

 camp there. We started again before dawn for a march, which 

 the men said would take nine hours, to the camp at Maungu. 

 Soon, to our great regret, we reached the end of the road ; we 

 had then to follow a native path, which twisted and twined in 

 every direction through the scrub. This is here so dense that 

 it is impossible to go straight ahead without cutting a way. 

 When, therefore, the natives began to traverse the district, they 

 had to follow the game tracks ; and the path thus made has 

 since been rigidly adhered to. We could often see our goal, 

 the peak of Maungu, rising through the scrub, apparently near 

 at hand. Sometimes it was on our right, and as often on our 



