Kopas to Mlembo River 



After another hour a small deserted village was 

 reached, but the water-holes were dry. The men 

 had marched fairly well so far, but were beginning to 

 be disheartened, and wasted valuable time hunting 

 for water, which was evidently not to be found. 

 We got them all off at last, but the rate of progress 

 had become very slow, as they kept continually 

 sitting down, and much coaxing was required to get 

 them up again. About another hours march 

 brought us to a fresh set of water-holes, and at the 

 bottom of one of these was a trickle of water giving 

 just sufficient to fill a mug every two or three 

 minutes. Here most of the men got a drink, but 

 this did not satisfy them ; they no sooner had had 

 one cupful than they wanted another. It was really 

 piteous to see them scrambling for the little there 

 was. One man got right into the hole, and was 

 nearly smothered by his fellows climbing over him. 

 The good men, however, soon went on again 

 headed by '* Cooky," but the weakly lads and ne'er- 

 do-wells with whom we were hampered gave con- 

 siderable trouble, either fighting for water in the pit, 

 or lying in the shade and refusing to move, so that 

 it was some time before the whole party were on 

 the road again. The rest of the march was a very 

 trying one. About half-a-dozen carried their loads 

 straight on to the Lulimala without stopping ; the 

 majority, however, were only got along with ex- 

 treme difficulty, and kept throwing themselves down 

 by the side of the road. Fortunately, we were 

 crossing an open plain with only a few trees here 

 and there, so were able to keep an eye upon them, 



193 



