AFRICAN CAMP FIRES 



tween us and it. However, we loaded all our trans- 

 portable vessels with water, and set forth. 



The scrub was all alike; sometimes thinner, some- 

 times thicker. We marched by compass until we 

 had raised a conical hill above the horizon, and then 

 we bore just to the left of that. The surface of the 

 ground was cut by thousands of game tracks. They 

 were all very old, however, made after a rain; and 

 it was evident the game herds venture into this 

 country only when it contains rainwater. After 

 two hours, however, we did see one solitary harte- 

 beeste, whom we greeted as an old friend in desola- 

 tion. Shortly afterward we ran across one oribi, 

 which I shot for our own table. 



At the end of two hours we sat down. The safari 

 of twenty men was a very miscellaneous lot, con- 

 sisting of the rag-tag and bobtail of the bazaars 

 picked up in a hurry. They were soft and weak, 

 and they straggled badly. The last weakling - 

 prodded along by one of our two askaris limped 

 in only at the end of half an hour. Then we took 

 a new start. 



The sun was by now up and hot. The work was 

 difficult enough at best, but the weight of the tropics 

 was now cast in the scale. Twice more within the 

 next two hours we stopped to let every one catch 

 up. Each time this required a longer interval. In 



208 



