A SURPRISE 



soil made walking slow and exhausting. At ten o'clock, 

 according to my observations, I crossed the Equator. 

 From that time until I passed again to the south, near 

 Meru, I remained on the north side of it, but at no 

 time during my journey was I more than a degree of 

 latitude from it, except for a brief period in the 

 Lorian district. At noon I came up with my " safari " 

 resting in a little clearing ; my chair and table were 

 in the scanty shade of a mimosa tree and my lunch 

 was ready not long after. After I finished it I told 

 my headman to start with the camels at 1.30 and not 

 to disturb me. Then lying down on my saddle 

 blankets with my head on the saddle, I was soon fast 

 asleep and did not wake again till nearly three o'clock. 

 We were quickly off again, and I caught up and 

 passed the camels two hours later. 



Towards sunset I reached a small pool, much to 

 our general surprise, and I decided to camp near by, 

 having covered about eighteen miles since leaving 

 Gulola village. A warm bath greatly refreshed me, 

 and after dinner I plotted the day's work on my 

 plane table sheet. By marching due north from 

 Gulola to Jeldez and thence to the Lak Dera, I hoped 

 to traverse a country that would be interesting 

 geographically. I had questioned the natives care- 

 fully about the district lying in a direct line between 

 Lorian and Gulola, and they all agreed in saying 

 that it was a " bad " country, waterless and unin- 

 habited, and the bush so dense that it would be 

 impossible to take camels through it. It is known 

 to them under the name of Rama Gudi, which means 

 " wilderness." 



We were on our way very early the next morning ; 

 the air was terribly oppressive although the sky was 



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