CHAPTER XVIII 



A JOUST WITH A BULL ORYX 



On a sudden one hath wounded me, 

 That's by me wounded 



Romeo and Juliet 

 Truly, pleasure will be paid, one time or another 



Twelfth Night 



The following day we made our way to some adjacent 

 wells, and spent the whole of the hours in filling up 

 everything we could lay hands on with water. All 

 old bottles were utilised, and I arranged that the 

 precious fluid should be allowanced, and any man 

 found helping himself would find the promised bonus 

 at the end of the trip a myth. The camels and ponies 

 were watered, and we had baths ! Then, in the dawn 

 of a day of intense heat, with the early sun a-shimmer 

 on all the glory of green that surrounded us again, the 

 air yet heavy with dew, and drowsy with the hum of 

 myriad insects we marched, heading for the Haud. 

 We might not again have any opportunity of securing 

 any water before we negotiated the great tract, which 

 we were to cross in a different part to our previous 

 journey over. 



The jungle was very dense, and the caravan simply 

 crawled. I rode ahead, and about eight o'clock 

 walked into, almost over, a lioness sound asleep with 



