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 ata 
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 q 
the coast, and night marching offers temptations to a porter to ~ 
desert, which some of them could not resist. There are other — 
ee 
ways of getting over these and other long marches without 7 
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 ~ 
