SECOND EXPEDITION TO EAST AFRICA 191 



incapacitated also for part of the time by. a sore 

 back. 



Gimlette brought out a patent saddle which 

 was warranted not to give an animal a sore back, 

 but it gave a sore back to his mule and also 

 to mine. My mule's back became very bad, and 

 a surgical operation was necessary. After a 

 desperate struggle, the mule was thrown by 

 ten or twelve of the porters, and the resourceful 

 Abdu lanced the swelling, and then ruthlessly 

 crushed all the pus out of the animal's back by 

 force. The operation was completely successful, 

 but must have been exceedingly painful, as, when 

 the mule got to her feet, she brayed loudly for 

 some time. She got, however, a '* bit of her own 

 back," as the slang goes. Abdu was standing 

 incautiously near, and the mule suddenly swung 

 round and landed both her heels into the pit 

 of his abdomen. Abdu " curled up on the floor," 

 and both Gimlette and I were afraid that he 

 must have sustained serious injury. Fortunately, 

 however, he was only temporarily knocked out 

 of time ; and, when our anxiety on his account 

 was relieved, the incident provided us with 

 much merriment. 



Much of the country lying between Meru and 

 the Guaso Nyiro River was covered with small 

 blocks of lava, which made walking difficult and 

 uncomfortable, but the walking along the greater 

 part of the route we followed was good. We 

 were very little troubled also with the ticks, 

 which make shooting on the Athi plains almost 

 intolerable to anyone like myself, who has a 

 horror of vermin. We both picked up jigger 



