xxvn THE FINDING OF THE NEW ELAND 309 



the obstacle. After an hour or so of hard travelling, 

 we were delighted to see a rocket go up, fired 

 by my friends to guide us on our way. Such a 

 sight is wonderfully cheering when one is far away 

 from camp, trudging along in the inky darkness and 

 none too certain of one's direction ; and a rocket 

 equipment should invariably be carried by the 

 traveller in the wilds. Several more were sent up 

 before we got anywhere near camp, and I remarked 

 to Landaalu that we must have gone a very long 

 way after the eland. " Long way," he replied ; 

 " why, Master, we have been to Baringo ! " This 

 lake as a matter of fact was fully fifty miles away. 

 When finally we arrived I fired the ardour of my 

 companions by relating the adventures of the after- 

 noon and telling them of the wonderful herd I had 

 seen ; and it was at once agreed that we should stay 

 where we were for a day or two in the hope of 

 good sport being obtained. 



As soon as it was daylight the next morning I 

 sent out a party of our porters with full instructions 

 where to find my eland, which I was sure must 

 be lying somewhere in the thicket close to the hill 

 from where I had shot him ; and very shortly after- 

 wards we ourselves made a start. After a couple of 

 hours' travelling we were lucky enough to catch 

 sight of a portion of the herd of eland, when 

 we dismounted and stalked them carefully through 



