ACROSS THE SERENGETTI. 231 



would bring us to a reported swamp at the head 

 of the Swanee River. The Swanee River was 

 one of the sources of the Tsavo. Of course this 

 was guesswork. We did not know certainly the 

 location of the swamp, its distance from us, nor 

 what lay between us and it. However, we loaded 

 all our transportable vessels with water, and set 

 forth. 



The scrub was all alike ; sometimes thinner, 

 sometimes thicker. We marched by compass until 

 we had raised a conical hill above the horizon, 

 and then we bore just to the left of that. The 

 surface of the ground was cut by thousands of 

 game tracks. They were all very old, however, 

 made after a rain ; and it was evident the game 

 herds venture into this country only when it con- 

 tains rain-water. After two hours, however, we 

 did see one solitary hartebeeste, whom we greeted 

 as an old friend in desolation. Shortly after- 

 wards we ran across one oribi, which I shot for 

 our own table. 



At the end of two hours we sat down. The 

 safari of twenty men was a very miscellaneous 

 lot, consisting of the rag-tag-and-bobtail of the 

 bazaars picked up in a hurry. They were soft 

 and weak, and they straggled badly. The last 

 weakling prodded along by one of our two 



