172 BIG GAME SHOOTING 



drought or an unusual number of caravans upon the road, 

 water is generally procurable at Taru and also at Mount 

 Maungu, where, however, the men have to climb the hill 1,000 

 feet above the camping-ground to get it. Between these two 

 points, a distance of some thirty-four miles (by the winding 

 serpentine footpath, and not fifty-three, as some writers main- 

 tain), there is no water, excepting perhaps for a few days after 

 heavy rain. This wearisome march can then be broken at a 

 place called Ziwa Butzuma, and again at Ziwa-wa-tatu. The 

 best way to get over this wilderness (and it is always best to rely 

 on its being quite waterless) is to take a supply of kerosene oil 

 tins from the coast, and engage extra men as far as Ndara in 

 Teita to carry them from Taru, where they can be filled, to 

 Maungu, where they can again be replenished if necessary. 



If Taveta should be the sportsman's destination, I should 

 strongly recommend him to take these tins with him as far 

 as M'kameni, the last camp in Teita, before starting into 

 the Siringeti plains. At this camp he can find out from the 

 natives if there is any water between there and Lanjora, 

 another long stretch of some thirty-five to forty miles. If 

 there is no water, natives can be engaged to carry the water- 

 tins for one march, which should be a good long one. As 

 these Bura natives are a bad lot and great thieves, and as they 

 are sure to demand payment in advance and will not stir till 

 they get it, the askaris should be told to keep a sharp look-out 

 to prevent any of them bolting. This Siringeti march, and 

 the Maungu march, when coming down country, can be done 

 best at night when it is cool ; but it is not advisable to do 

 any marching at night when going up country, as it is too near 

 the coast, and night marching offers temptations to a porter to 

 desert, which some of them could not resist. There are other 

 ways of getting over these and other long marches without 

 the aid of water-tins, but none of them are so comfortable. 

 One way is to have the men called very early in the morning 

 and told to cook their food for the day. They can then eat as 

 much as they like and carry the rest with them ; can quench 



