ACROSS THE THIRST. 309 



We unsaddled just before dark, and I imme- 

 diately started towards the game herds, many of 

 which were grazing a half-mile away. The 

 gazelle would supply our own larder, but meat 

 for hard- worked man was very desirable. I shot 

 a hartebeeste, made the prearranged signal for 

 men to carry meat, and returned to camp. 



Even yet the men were not all in. We took 

 lanterns and returned along the road, for the 

 long marches under a desert sun are no joke. At 

 last we had accounted for all but two. These 

 we had to abandon. Next day we found their 

 loads, but never laid eyes on them again. Thus 

 early our twenty-nine became twenty-seven. 



About nine o'clock, just as we were turning, 

 a number of lions began to roar. Usually a lion 

 roars once or twice by way of satisfaction after 

 leaving a kill. These, however, were engaged in 

 driving game, and hence trying to make as much 

 noise as possible. We distinguished plainly 

 seven individuals, perhaps more. The air trem- 

 bled with the sound as to the deepest tones of a 

 big organ, only the organ is near and enclosed, 

 while these vibrations were in the open air and 

 remote. For a few moments the great salvos 

 would boom across the veld, roll after roll of 

 thunder ; then would ensue a momentary dead 



