\Yith Flashlight and Rifle -*> 



the thirsting European is incapable of driving away the 

 obsession of the thought of water. 



Water ! I feel clearly how difficult it is to depict real, 

 serious, burning, terrible thirst to those who, like most 

 Europeans, have never felt it. The pangs increase as 

 the temperature rises, for the scorching sun and the dry 

 warmth cause the body to perspire and thus lose what it 

 has of moisture. Quietly encamped in the shade, one 

 can, of course, endure thirst for much longer than when 

 on the march. But we have a proverb, " Staying in 

 camp finds no water," and so thirsty men have often to 

 keep on the march. 



It is said that the Mahdi did his enemies to death 

 by starving them, but not depriving them of water. 

 Under normal conditions, it appears that with this treat- 

 ment the death-agonies do not set in until the seventeenth 

 day. From that day onward the Mahdi, with his suite, 

 used to appear in the cells, so as to amuse himself with 

 the last agonies of his opponents. 



Thirst can kill, though, according to conditions ot 

 temperature, in two, or at the most, three days, as I 

 have unfortunately proved by experience. Under un- 

 favourable conditions, indeed, a single very hot day may 

 suffice to bring even an unladen native to the end ot 

 his tether. 



'I hree times have I suffered really badly from want 

 of water. The first time, the caravan had been delayed 

 in the neighbourhood of Xguruman and Xguaso-X yiro 

 tor some days, on account of warlike operations. I had 

 spent the whole day on the velt, hunting and making 



