XXXII. ] "THE SEA! THE SEA!" 429 



sions to any thing approaching civilized appearance, although November, 

 they were not far from the coast. 1876. 



A small and greasy cloth round their waists, and a mass of 

 strings of beads — almost looking like a bolster — around their 

 necks, constituted their dress. One woman wore, in addition, a 

 small square of cloth, intended to hide her breasts ; but it was a 

 failure, 



I tried to persuade the women to give me some milk for the 

 cloth I had carefully hoarded up to this time; but they set a 

 light value on my little store, and I had to borrow more from 

 Marijani before I could procure about a quart ; and very sour 

 stuff it was, fresh milk being altogether unattainable. 



We were off by half-past four the following morning, and 

 soon came upon a number of up caravans just starting on their 

 march. Now the mystery of the empty paraffine tins was ex- 

 plained, for a terribly noisy reveille was being beaten on them, 

 and they certainly served the purpose of kettle-drums admi- 

 rably. 



Scrambling along a steep and rocky ridge of hills intersected 

 by several water-courses and ravines with almost perpendicular 

 sides, and then up a path not unlike a broken-down flight of 

 steep steps, we reached the summit of the range. 



What was that distant line upon the sky? We all gazed at 

 it with a strange mingling of hope and fear, scarcely daring to 

 believe it was tlie sea. But looking more intently at that streak 

 happily left no room for doubt. 



It was the sea ; and Xenophon and his ten thousand could 

 not have welcomed its view more heartily wlien tliey exclaimed 

 QiAaTTu ! 9aXfir-o ! than did I and my handful of wayworn 

 followers. 



There was little "go" left in me now. I was very nearly 

 broken down ; for, though my head and legs liad ceased to ache 

 so acutely, I was suffering excruciating pain in my back. 



At almost every step I feared I should be compelled to lie 

 down and wait for some assistance from the coast ; but I tliought 

 of the poor exhausted fellows behind who were trusting to me 

 to send them aid, and, being sustained by the near approach of 

 the end of my journey, I still managed to keep on my legs. 



The remainder of this day was spent in crawling over rocks 



