220 THE BONDS OF AFRICA 



vengeance, for the heat was intense and the march 

 long, trying and dusty. Just before dusk we 

 camped on the spur of a hill about half-way up 

 the side of the Mau. One of the porters assured 

 us that he could find water in the vicinity. After 

 a protracted search he succeeded, and ere long 

 masters, servants, horses and oxen were all 

 in a deep slumber. 



It was about three o'clock in the morning 

 when we inspanned the oxen and began to 

 climb the last crags of the Mau. By the light 

 of lanterns and firebrands our Somalis and 

 servants packed the various items of impedi- 

 menta away on the wagon, and at last we satisfied 

 ourselves that nothing was left behind, and the 

 rumbling and creaking of the wagon, the strain- 

 ing of the oxen and the hoarse yells of the drivers 

 told that another day's " trek " had commenced. 

 Bumping over tree-stumps, rocking and shaking 

 as great ruts in the track were crossed, we at 

 last reached the summit. By this time the sun 

 had risen and flooded the escarpment, the great, 

 dreary plateau that lay ahead of us, and the 

 valley of the Kedong now in the dim distance in 

 warmth and splendour. There was practically 

 no game to be observed on this table-land, but 

 now and then we saw giraffe, their long, giant 

 necks standing up like mammalian spectres 

 above the dried grass and stunted shrubs of the 

 arid plateau. At mid-day the wagon began the 

 descent of a rugged, stony ravine, where at 

 certain favoured times a stream must have 

 coursed. Elmi went up the banks to see if he 

 could discover any water, that priceless com- 

 modity whereof no one can realize the true value 

 till he has searched for it with parched throat 

 in the wastes of Africa and has failed to find it. 



