ACROSS THE SERENGETTI. 



our way through it at all ; while to men carrying 

 burdens on their heads the tangle aloft must have 

 been fairly maddening. So slow did our progress 

 necessarily become, and so difficult was it to keep 

 in touch with everybody, that F. and I finally 

 halted for consultation. It was decided that I 

 should push on ahead with Memba Sasa to make 

 certain that we were not on the wrong line, while 

 F. and the askaris struggled with the safari. 



Therefore I took my compass bearing afresh, 

 and plunged into the scrub. The sensation was 

 of hitting solid ground after a long walk through 

 sand. We seemed fairly to shoot ahead and out 

 of sight. Whenever we came upon earth we 

 marked it deeply with our heels ; we broke 

 twigs downwards, and laid hastily- snatched 

 bunches of grass to help the trail we were leav- 

 ing for the others to follow. This, in spite of 

 our compass, was a very devious track. Besides, 

 the thorn bushes were patches of spiky aloe 

 coming into red flower, and the spears of sisal. 



After an hour's steady, swift walking the 

 general trend of the country began to slope 

 downwards. This argued a watercourse between 

 us and the hills around Kilimanjaro. There could 

 be no doubt that we would cut it ; the only 



question was whether it, like so many desert 



8a 



