xix THE STRICKEN CARAVAN 213 



ture. Their feeble cries for some of this nourish- 

 ment were heartrending ; some could only whisper, 

 " Bwana, Bwana" ("Master, Master "), and then 

 open their mouths. One or two of them, indeed, 

 could hardly do even this, and were so weak as to 

 be unable to swallow the spoonful of milk which I 

 put between their lips. In the end six proved to be 

 beyond all help, and died that night ; but the re- 

 maining seven I managed to nurse into complete 

 recovery in about a fortnight's time. As our camp 

 was moved on, they were brought along from place 

 to place on the top of trucks, until finally they were 

 well enough to resume their journey to Usoga, very 

 grateful indeed for the care which we had taken of 

 them. 



The day after I first found these stricken natives 

 I had arranged to ride on my pony for some miles 

 in advance of the railway, in order to make arrange- 

 ments for the building of a temporary bridge over 

 the Stony Athi River a tributary of the Athi, and 

 so-called on account of the enormous numbers of 

 stones in its bed and along its banks. I ordered 

 my tent to follow me later in the day, and left 

 directions for the care of the sick Basoga, as I knew 

 I should be away all night. My road lay along the 

 route taken by the home-returning caravan, and 

 every hundred yards or so I passed the swollen 

 corpse of some unfortunate porter who had fallen 



