ON THE SHORES OF LAKE ABLERT 205 



ill, one of them even bringing up blood. In the morning the 

 storm abated somewhat. We made for the nearest land and got 

 ashore, thankful to Providence that the boat had outlived the 

 storm. We did not quite know where we were, but felt sure 

 that if we kept straight towards the mountains, we must cut 

 across some footpath between the mountains and the lake. We 

 had a nasty scramble through thorny jungle, but luckily found 

 the footpath and now toiled along it. We were all wet through, 

 and chilled with the bath in which we had sat for so many 

 hours with our clothes on. A couple of men hurried ahead to 

 have a fire ready for us. What was our surprise, when we found 

 we were nowhere near Mahaji, and that we had returned to 

 Kibero ! The storm overtook us, when we were about half-way 

 across the lake ; in the darkness we must have moved round in 

 a circle and finally steered back towards Kibero. 



A grilling hot day succeeded. We were able to dry 

 our belongings and such of the Government bales, as had 

 got soaked. Most of my men were ill and exhausted ; but 

 to my surprise no attack of fever fell on me, though I fully 

 expected it. 



A somewhat similar misadventure once happened to me in 

 my boyhood, when my brother and I were on a walking tour in 

 Scotland. We had rested in an inn at the foot of a range 

 of hills, and we decided to cross to the other side of the hills 

 before night. The guide led us along a sheep track, but when 

 it grew dusk he deserted us. We pushed on steadily in the 

 direction indicated, lost the path, and floundered every now 

 and again up to our knees in boggy mud-holes. When we 

 reached the precipitous descent, we saw in the valley below us 

 an inn, and we thought that it looked very much like the one 

 we had left in the afternoon ; but we attributed this to fancy, 

 because we had to be ferried across a small stream which 

 we had not noticed when we started. It was not till we were 

 greeted by the same landlord, that we realised we had moved 

 in a circle back to our starting-point. 



It is singular to have had a repetition of such an experience 

 in the heart of Africa, on one of the great lakes, and with suit- 

 able accompaniment of tumultuous waves, thunder, lightning, 

 and rain. 



As soon as the weather permitted it, we made another attempt 

 to cross the lake, but this time during the day. We reached 



