SCARCITY OF WATER 



but we followed and promptly killed it, then, taking 

 Gungdya by the arm, I ran him back to camp. 



Here, cutting open the wound, which was on the ankle, 

 I rubbed in a quantity of salt, the only remedy I could 

 think of besides brandy, of which I gave him a good dose, 

 then ran him up and down to keep up the circulation, for 

 he was becoming very drowsy. However, by the next 

 morning he had quite recovered, though there was no doubt 

 that the snake was a poisonous one, for the Somali declared 

 it to be the Abeso, a kind of adder, the bite of which is said 

 to be very deadly. 



Most of the natives at this Karia had never seen a 

 European before. They consequently regarded me much 

 in the same way as one might a new animal at the Zoo, and 

 flocked in such numbers to inspect me, that my camp soon 

 resembled that of some travelling circus or menagerie. 

 Unfortunately there was no gate-money for entrance, or 

 the exhibition would have been quite a profitable 

 business ! 



The water at the camp was very brackish, and black 

 almost as pitch, with a thick blue scum on it, and an odour 

 altogether indescribable. Even when boiled, and mixed 

 with alum, it was quite unfit to drink, while any food cooked 

 in it was practically uneatable. 



The water supply is always a difficulty in an African 

 expedition, and when crossing the Maritime plains, we 

 had to be exceedingly careful. My specially constructed 

 casks were always kept under lock and key, and the water 

 doled out in rations by Abdi, the headman. 



A bath was quite out of the question all this time, and 

 until we reached water at the other end of the desert 

 when I managed to procure one in my little indiarubber 

 tub, but my ablutions even then could hardly be described 

 as a bath. Nevertheless, the operation was a Godsend 

 to my two milch goats, for no sooner had I finished, than 

 they lapped down the soapy water with an avidity that 

 proved how thirsty they must have been. However, at 

 this particular Karia, where we were encamped, the water 

 was so exceptionally bad, that we decided to move further 

 north to the extreme edge of the Harawa Valley, and to 

 form a permanent camp on the Abyssinian border. 



191 



