XXIV ACROSS THE KAISOOT DESERT 309 



curiosity, apparently mingled with malicious joy at 

 having caused so much terror, and in the end turned 

 disdainfully round and trotted off in the opposite 

 direction. 



Odd as it may sound, this little adventure cheered 

 us all up wonderfully, and the men, having once more 

 picked up their loads, stepped forward with renewed 

 energy. 



It was not until about five o'clock in the afternoon 

 that we finally straggled in to our camping place on 

 the edge of the valley of El Deerim, which in 

 bygone ages must have been a vast crater. There 

 was a waterhole not far off in the bed of a ravine at 

 a place called Reti, which is on the outskirts of the 

 district of Marsabit. 



The men were all thoroughly done-up, and as 

 they came in one by one, threw down their loads 

 with a sigh of relief, and made as quickly as possible 

 for the waterhole to quench their burning thirst. 



Here I was roused to indignation by the heartless 

 and selfish conduct of my syce Jerogi. I had seen 

 him on the march craving a drink from a comrade 

 whose water-bottle he drained of its last drop without 

 the slightest compunction, although the man tried to 

 get it away from his mouth before he had quite 

 finished it ; and now to make the matter still worse, 

 I saw him calmly pull out a large lime-juice bottle 

 filled with water which he had had all the time 



