THE GUASO NYERO 



279 



turning, they were apt to get in front, to pilot me back to 

 camp. If, as at this time was generally the case, we re- 

 turned with our heads bent to the rushing rain, they trudged 

 sturdily ahead in dripping silence. If the weather was clear 

 the spirits of the stalwart fellows were sure to rise until they 

 found some expression, The Wakamba might break into 

 song; or they might all talk together in Swahili, recounting 

 the adventures of the day, and chaffing one another with 

 uproarious laughter about any small misadventure; a 

 difference of opinion as to the direction of camp being 

 always a subject, first for earnest discussion, and then for 

 much mirth at the expense of whomever the event proved 

 mistaken. 



My two horses, when I did not use them, grazed con- 

 tentedly throughout the day near the little thorn boma 

 which surrounded our tents; and at nightfall the friendly 

 things came within it of their own accord to be given their 

 feed of corn and be put in their own tent. When the sun 

 was hot they were tormented by biting flies; but their work 

 was easy, and they were well treated and throve. In the 

 daytime vultures, kites, and white-necked ravens came 

 round camp, and after nightfall jackals wailed and hyenas 

 uttered their weird cries as they prowled outside the thorn 

 walls. Twice, at midnight, we heard the ominous sighing 

 or moaning of a hungry lion, and I looked to my rifle, which 

 always stood, loaded, at the head of my bed. But on 

 neither occasion did he come near us. Every night a fire 

 was kept burning in the entrance to the boma, and the 

 three askaris watched in turn, with instructions to call me 

 if there was any need. 



I easily kept the camp in meat, as I had guessed that 



