VIII.] MY DOG LEO IN A PITFALL. 105 



other mile, were obliged to allow them to halt. This I thought Jul-y, 

 a favorable opportunity for calling all the askari before me, i^*^^- 

 and giving them a lecture as to their duties, in the vain hope 

 of making them behave better for the future. 



The halt being long, I went, with my dog Leo as a compan- 

 ion, to look around, and noticed some well-constructed fences 

 and pitfalls for game. One of these pitfalls had been cleverly 

 placed in a slight gap in a fence, which I thought was mei'ely a 

 weak spot, and made straight for it. Fortunately for me, Leo 

 jumped on the covering just as I was about to step on it, and 

 exposed the trap by falling through, thus saving me from a 

 very nasty tumble. The pit was so deep that it was with diflS- 

 culty I managed, single-handed, to pull the unfortunate dog 

 out ; but, on succeeding, I was delighted to find him unhurt. 



After our rest, we toiled on through alternating tracts of 

 jungle and prairie, and, to add to our troubles, the grass had 

 been burned in many places, leaving miles of country black- 

 ened and charred, while the gritty ashes filled our mouths, ears, 

 and throats, aggravating a thousand-fold the suffering of thirst. 



Sunset came upon us, and yet we had found no water ; and 

 not until nearly 8 p.m. did we discover a pool of liquid mud, 

 with which we were obliged to be content. From this it was 

 plain that the natives at Kipireh had wantonly deceived us, and 

 we were compelled to admit that our kirangosi was right in ad- 

 vising a halt near that village. 



Shortly after moving onward the next morning, some tolera- 

 bly clear water lying in a cavity in a bed of granite gladdened 

 our eyes. Directly we sighted it the men threw down their 

 loads, and in a moment a mingled mass of men, dogs, and don- 

 keys were all slaking their thirst at one and the same time. 



A fair idea of our daily life and routine may be gathered 

 from the introduction here of a few pages of my journal : 



'•'•July '2iSth. — Off at 7 for Ki Sara-Sara, which we reached at 

 11.15. The country just the same — large rocks scattered about, 

 soil sandy, or a black loam lying on the granite ; open woods, 

 with occasional small mbugas, or plains ; lots of tracks, but no 

 game to be seen. Just after leaving camp, we found a pool of 

 water in a hole in a sheet of granite. It would have been a 

 blessing had we known of it before, as the water we had been 



