WATER AT LAST! 67 



went off in the gathering darkness, carrying with them all the 

 cooking vessels, &c. All remained quiet in camp for a little 

 time, and then, the scene lit up by a lantern, we were all gathered 

 in eager expectation round a deep hole which Qualla had had 

 dug in the channel of the river in the hopes of finding water. 

 At a depth of some three feet the sand was a little damp, but 

 for the next three feet it was of equable warmth, always a bad 

 sign. But the men shovelled on, only to strike rock at a depth 

 of about ten and a half feet, which, of course, put an end to 

 their labours. 



This fresh disappointment gave us plenty of food for reflec- 

 tion, the more that we had hitherto felt pretty sure we should 

 come to water by digging into the bed of the stream. The 

 thought that we were in a waterless desert, and that under the 

 circumstances every man might feel justified in laying violent 

 hands on our little store of the precious fluid, made us more 

 thirsty than ever, and we lost no time in averting the danger 

 of losing it by swallowing the contents of our flasks. 



The search parties had orders to fire if they came upon 

 water, and in terrible suspense we listened in the darkness 

 for the sound of a shot. But hour after hour passed on with- 

 out our hearing the longed-for report, and we began to fear 

 that there would be nothing for it but to go back as quickly 

 as possible to our last halting-place. Of course this would risk 

 the chance of our ever getting to Mount Nyiro, which was to 

 be the starting-point of our further journey north, and upset 

 all our plans. We estimated the distance between us and the 

 mountain at from forty to fifty miles, or, closely calculated, 

 twenty-five hours' journey, and not one-tenth of our men were 

 in a fit condition for the march. 



Our delight can therefore be imagined when at about 

 eleven o'clock we heard a dull report somewhere in the 

 distance. We dared not even now be sure, for the shot mio^ht 



